Cosmic Warriors
by SomeoftheFame
Summary: An evil that was once thought to be extinguished has revived and threatens to destroy life on Earth. As their threat comes closer to fruition a group of warriors will rise to protect their home, with the help of others from their past lives, can they win? An AU retelling of the Sailor Moon series, please review.
1. Rabbit Over the Moon

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about.

**Note: **This is a retelling of the Sailor Moon series. I've taken artistic license to make changes to the series to fit my liking. These changes include: the flow of the plot, the villains, the transformations, attacks, and the order in which characters and senshi will be introduced. I hope you can respect the changes and enjoy the story.  
Thanks to WeirdRaptor and StarCatTibalt, both of their stories gave me inspiration to write this one. Also thanks to JulietShadow and SadieSwirl for being my beta readers.

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**CHAPTER ONE - Rabbit Over the Moon**

* * *

**Tokyo - ****September 7th, 1992**

Like every morning the Tsukino house was ordinarily quiet. The only sound came from the dining room where Shingo Tsukino hit his fork against his plate, trying desperately to stab his remaining pancake pieces that were drifting in a sea of syrup. To his right, at the head of the table, sat his father Kenji who flipped through the morning paper, his eyes glancing over the recent news stories.

His brow furrowed as he scanned the headline before reading the article that was fit around a large black and white picture. "Twelve tons of metal were reportedly stolen from a manufacturing warehouse a few miles from here…" Slowly he reached out to grab hold of his cup of coffee.

"Wonder what happened to it all." Shingo mused while Kenji shrugged and as he gripped the handle a scream blasted through the house followed by a thud against the second level floor.

Kenji cocked his head to the side, suppressing the need to react to his daughter's wake up routine. "How late will she be?" He pulled the cup to his lips, breathing down into the piping java.

"Twenty minutes at least." Shingo mumbled as he decided to use his fork more like a spoon and managed to scoop up a soggy pancake chunk.

Standing in the kitchen, leaning on the window ledge between the two rooms, was the woman of the house, Ikuko. "I'll say just fifteen this time." With a sigh she grabbed a slice of bacon from a plate beside her.

"Ahhh! Why didn't anyone wake me up?" Down the stairs came Usagi Tsukino shouting, looking disheveled and groggy as always.

"Usagi, would it make a difference if I told you we all tried at least twice?" Ikuko muttered under her breath as she lifted the strip of bacon to her mouth. "You said you were getting up right away."

Huffing with anger Usagi burst into the dining room. "You believed me?" She then snatched a biscuit off the table before running out.

"Have a nice day." Kenji said raising his mug up as if to wish her luck as his daughter flew out of the door, slamming it behind her.

Usagi flew down the pavement in front of her house before reaching the sidewalk where she began to sprint. Typical for this time in the morning the sidewalks were empty which gave her a clear path. She only strayed from her route once to maneuver between a street lamp and a couple of trash bags.

In Usagi's mind the only thing worse than school, was having to run there. As she raced down the street she stuffed the biscuit into her mouth that was quickly losing warmth, and memories of her typical race to school flashing through her mind. Most ended with her arriving at school late, sweaty and out of breath.

Usagi smiled through the biscuit, knowing her shortcut was coming and made a sharp turn to her left onto her neighbors' property.

She made quick work of the yard before she reached the high wall that surrounded the property. As she approached she leapt up and threw her arms out ahead of her, catching them on the top of the wall, as she pressed her feet against it to throw herself over.

On the other side she landed in a small pathway between two homes, it was a common shortcut and the grass in the area had been run over so much that a thin line in the dirt was beginning to form. However the pathway was only a means to an end for her today as she grabbed onto another wall and scurried up before dropping down on the other side, landing into another yard. Cutting through yards like this would save her at least ten minutes on her way to school. As she came to the edge of the yard she quickly scurried up the wall and landed in another pathway.

In front of her were the backyards of more homes, with chain link fences rather than stone walls. "One. Two. Three!" Usagi counted off the fences as she passed them, on the third she grabbed hold of the small gate and pushed her way through it.

The first time she'd taken the shortcut she hopped over the first fence and ended up trampling the vegetable garden on the other side. Her second attempt with the next fence ended up with her leg being caught in the doghouse roof on the other side. She'd finally gotten it right with the third fence; there weren't any pets and no home-grown produce to worry about.

As she made her way to the edge of the yard she slammed her hands down against the fence to bunny hop over into the next yard. On the other side she was saw brilliant white fabrics hanging from clothes lines across the yard. Usagi never faltered for a second as she rushed to the lines and began her dance.

Shifting and turning her slim body to the right and left to slide past the various dresses and pants hanging up. This was child's play. As she moved her golden locks of hair brushed against some of the shirts she passed. She ducked low to avoid a sheet and ran freely under socks and underwear that wouldn't come near touching her meatball shaped mounds of hair.

After readying herself for the second fence Usagi bunny hopped it as well; however, as she came down her foot slammed down on a long black tail. Usagi wavered for a moment before she fell over and shrieked as she hit the ground.

What lay across from her was a cat with fur dark like coal, save for a tail with clumps of dirt on it that she now realized she'd landed on.

Usagi quickly plucked the biscuit from her mouth and watched the cat flick its tail. "Oh I'm sorry kitty!" she blubbered; the cat hadn't moved, it lay still and kept it its red eyes trained on her.

"Err, here!" Usagi stammered and ripped the biscuit in two; she kept the moistened half and tossed the rest to the ebony cat before she scrambled to her feet. She jogged across the remaining stretch of grass, and only looked back once to see the cat that still hadn't moved. From a distance it looked more like a spot of obsidian nestled in a sea of emerald grass than anything else.

It took her a second to regain her stride as she reached the edge of the yard before she flew over the last fence. From here it would be only a block until she reached the school.

She sprinted and panted across the remaining yards, all without fences, until she reached the sidewalk again. The moment her foot hit the pavement she pivoted to the right and booked it down the next sidewalk and let the residual of her morning biscuit fall to the ground. The thought she might actually make it on time flashed through her mind and she smiled triumphantly.

She sprinted across the street, into the yard of her school and finally inside before she rushed up the staircase. As she approached the top the ring of the school bell resonated throughout the halls.

Usagi felt heat rush to her head as she began to panic. "No no no no no!" She reached the next floor and rushed off down the hall to her class.

"I'm late… but maybe I can sneak in." She whispered and pulled the classroom door open slowly. She poked her head in and examined the room, finding no trace of her teacher in her typical pink attire around. Usagi sighed with relief as a bead of sweat ran down past her curled bangs. "Made it!" She cheered.

"Tsukino!"

Usagi flinched and felt the eyes of the fellow students turn on her, her teacher Ms. Haruna stood behind her, hands balled up on her hips and stared disapprovingly down at her student.

"First day of the week and you're already off to a bad start!" Haruna displayed Usagi's Algebra test in front of the blonde's face, scowling. "Tell me, Tsukino! How is it that you always fail my tests?"

Usagi's eyes widened when she saw the red F on her paper, under the encircled fourteen percent. "I-I failed?" she said shrilly. "But how can that be?"

Her eyes were already spouting out tears when Ms. Haruna shoved the test at Usagi. "Have your mother sign this test by the end of the week and return it to me!" Following the test her teacher swung the dreaded tag out in front of Usagi.

"I don't wanna wear the name tag! Please, Ms. Haruna! Please!" Twin streams of tears flew out of Usagi's eyes.

Her classmates snickered, making Usagi's waterworks even stronger. Ms. Haruna held open the door, pointing outside. "Now get out so I can start my class!" she snapped at a wailing Usagi.

Usagi miserably dropped her shoulders, bowing her head down.

"And put on that sign!"

As Usagi resentfully placed the sign around her neck, she bolted out of the classroom, made a sharp right turn and leaned against the wall. Her knees gave way as she plopped to the linoleum floor, her skirt billowing out. Hands trembling, Usagi gazed at the test, feeling another wave of tears heading toward her eyes.

"H-How can I show my parents this – this test?" she said aloud before bursting into tears, not caring if the people in the hallway were staring at her.

After a class period of whining on the floor, Usagi's test was crumbled and tear stained in her hand as the bell rang. She tore the sign off her neck and watched as the students filed from the room.

"Naru!" Usagi elbowed her way past two boys who had parked themselves near the door and laced fingers with Naru Osaka as the two pushed themselves up against the wall.

"Oh Usagi there you are!" Her Osaka dialect coming through thicker on certain words made Usagi smile every time.

Usagi straightened out the test on the wall before flashing it to Naru "Look at this! I have to show this to my mom!"

"Cheer up Usagi, it's not like its the end of the world." Naru leaned in closer, pulling a finger on the test as she looked over the girl's answers. "Wow Usagi, a fourteen percent…" Naru said in true shock. "Maybe it is the end."

Usagi began to ball up the test again as tears swelled up in her eyes. "I can't show my mom this! She'll cut my allowance and I won't be able to go play the new Sailor V video game!" Usagi's whining turned into wailing again as she started thinking about how hopeless this seemed.

"Hey Usagi did you ever think if you didn't spend your weekends at the arcade you could catch up on your schoolwork?" Gurio Umino pointed out as he emerged from the wave of students passing by, his voice cut through the murmur just like his boney elbows cut through the crowd. He threw himself in between the girls and adjusted his bottle cap glasses, grinning from ear to ear.

"I go to the arcade to _escape_ school. If I was going to give up going there it wouldn't be to do more homework!" Usagi said shoving Umino towards Naru, not wanting to deal with him this morning.

"I thought you went to the arcade for Motoki!" Naru narrowed her eyes at Usagi as she replied, and playfully shoved Umino back to Usagi.

"Naru!" Usagi squealed and gripped Umino's shoulder before pushing him back. Naru giggled and shoved the now wobbly Umino back to the wall.

Naru slapped her hands on her cheeks and beamed. "I'm just sayin' Usagi, I see how you look at him and when you pretend your machine is busted just so he has to come over, it's too cute!" Naru squealed.

"You think he realizes I jam up the buttons on purpose yet?" Usagi said quietly and blushed, thinking about all of her tricks to get a few minutes close to Motoki.

"Who knows?" Naru said plainly and linked an arm with Usagi and they dove into the last wave of students, leaving a weaving Umino behind.

After the school day Naru and Usagi had parked themselves against a wall outside discussing what to do. "So what are you gonna tell your parents?" Naru asked again for the third time as she watched Usagi kick pebbles into the street.

Usagi looked at the wrinkled and tear stained test again. "I don't know!" Usagi whined and dropped the test out of sight.

"Usagi I heard about your test score, but I don't know how you do it!" From down the street came Umino's voice, the boy appeared soon after. "It takes special skill to score so low."

The girls stood tall and looked over to him. "Can it Umino!" The girls shouted back simultaneously.

Umino smiled and scratched the back of his head as he approached. "So, want me to tutor to you?" he offered.

"That's the last thing I want, some nerd telling me about all of my mistakes…" Usagi groaned and dropped her head.

"What you need is a girl's study party!" Naru exclaimed and clapped her hands together "That's it! We'll get a bunch of girls from our class over, eat junk food, listen to music, and watch movies! We can do whatever!"

"You're throwing a party instead of studying? You need to get your priorities together girls!" Umino continued and unraveled his own test. "Look I got a ninety-five and didn't study at all, this is shameful, how can I show this to my parents?"

"Do we care?" Naru quipped offhandedly.

Usagi's face went pale when she heard him use the word shameful to describe his grade. "I'm hopeless!"

"Forget about the dumb test Usagi, maybe my mom will let us try on some jewelry!" Naru said and waved a hand at her friend.

"Jewelry?" Usagi's eyes widened and a drip of drool leaked from the corner of her mouth at the thought.

"Yes! She's got all kinds!" Naru chimed.

"Like diamonds, emeralds, and rhinestones?" Usagi grabbed onto Naru's hands, her eyes glistening with the idea.

"Of course, in all kinds of colours!"

Umino's shoulders dropped and as he listened to the girls he became worried for their grades. "And when do you plan on adding studying to that list?" Umino interjected with the obvious question.

"Umino stop being a kill-joy. Usagi doesn't need to hit the books, she needs to relax and let it all come to her naturally. Sure we'll study, a little bit... But our main objective is to have fun!" Naru and Usagi began to jump and squeal.

"Oh I can't wait for a girl's night it sounds like a blast!" Usagi cheered but the excitement soon died once the failed test came into her mind. "But if my mom sees this I may have to start living with you because I'll be kicked out!"

"What about changing the grade?" Naru questioned as she stood beside Usagi looking down at the test and began formulating ways to transform the grade.

"That's no good because I have to turn it back into Ms. Haruna." Usagi whined and turned the test on its side.

"All the time you spend thinking of ways to get out of trouble if you would just study instead you'd never have to worry about being in trouble, over grades!" Umino rubbed his head, his cry falling on deaf ears as Naru and Usagi started running their fingers over the test and mumbling about ways to fool their teacher.

"Maybe forge your parent's signatures!" Naru said and slapped Usagi on the arm, feeling proud of her plan.

"Could that really work?" Usagi asked bleakly and clutched the paper tighter. "What if she can tell they didn't really sign it?"

"You worry too much!" Naru waved a hand at her.

Usagi smiled wide and wrapped her arms around Naru. "Ooh thank you Naru!"

Umino stood stoic, amazed at the lengths she'd go to keep herself out of trouble. "Usagi if you ever decide you need a tutor you know where to find me." Umino said and turned his back to the girls and headed off down the sidewalk.

"I totally would never call him to help me, even if he is brilliant." Naru snapped back in a very prissy voice.

"I don't think I could ever go to a friend for help like that, _especially_ Umino." Usagi said as she looked for a good spot to write her parent's names.

"Usagi! I'm such an idiot I totally forgot about Ami!" Naru screeched as she slapped her forehead.

"Mmm, who's Ami?" Usagi asked between the pen cap she had clamped between her teeth, practicing her parent's signatures in the air.

"A new girl in our class! You missed her cause you were late! She's supposed to be really smart, smarter than Umino even. She's new so she doesn't have any friends yet, she could be your ticket to a D+!" Naru explained turning to her and grabbed her shoulder, the possibilities bubbling in her mind.

Usagi's jaw dropped and the pen cap tumbled to the ground. "D+? Where is she?!"

"Actually, I have no idea." Naru admitted, to her side Usagi whimpered. "I tried to talk to her after class, you know just to be nice, but she bolted as soon as the bell rang and I haven't seen her around at all." Naru said regretfully and pulled a corner of her mouth up and shrugged the hope she had now fading as quickly as it came.

"Tomorrow I will be on time and tomorrow we will talk to Ami!" Usagi stated with pride and clutched her test again.

"You sound awfully confident Usagi."

"I have to be… because she's my only hope!" She whined.

"So what are you gonna do today? Go to the game arcade maybe?" Naru smiled wide and nudged her friend, dropping the biggest hint of all in how she drew out the word arcade.

"Of course I'm going to the arcade." Usagi said and stuffed the test into her bag. "Motoki is working today and I want to play the new Sailor V game!"

At the mention of the heroine Naru's expression fell flat. "Usagi can I ask you something?" she asked gloomily.

"Shoot."

"What do you know about Sailor V?" Naru kept her eyes on the ground as they started walking.

"Not much I guess, just that she's the girl in the papers. Mom calls her a vigilante." Usagi answered pressing a finger to her lip, proud that she remembered the word her mother had used recently.

"Yeah my mom says the same, but do you think she's real?" Naru asked meekly, treading slightly on the subject.

"Huh?" Usagi asked as she raised an eyebrow. "There are Sailor V posters, toys, and video games, of course she's real!"

"But what if she's made up by the police, you know as someone to give the public to look up to."

"Where did that come from?"

"Well you see..." Naru tapped her fingers together whispering a bit. "I was having trouble with my English homework so I went to mom to ask for help. She had some of her friends over and outside the door I heard them talkin' about some theory that the police invented Sailor V as a way to give the people in the city hope and someone to look up to. Also they said it encourages everyday citizens to be heroes." After she laid it all out there, she began to feel a little silly taking what her mother had said, probably after a glass of wine or two.

"That sounds like it could be true..." Usagi quietly, tapping a finger to her chin now having to think about if she's ever seen a picture of Sailor V in the paper.

"You think so?" Naru asked her, unsure if she really believed in the theory.

"I guess so; I mean I've never seen her on the news or anything." Usagi shrugged, not willing to give it much thought.

"You don't even watch the news Usagi." Naru said and slapped her hands down onto her hips, giving her friend a knowing look that caused her to giggle and blush.

* * *

"Has everything been going according to plan Jadeite?" Floating in the sky was a woman sitting casually in a throne made from marble and human bones. Over the back of her throne her curly red hair flowed down, she had skin that was an unhealthy shade of light brown and two horns protruding from her shoulders. She wore a long strapless violet dress that cupped her breasts with sections of fabric shaped like curved water drops. She wore many pieces of jewelry, a band on her arm, a thick necklace, two large earrings, and a large headpiece, each fixed with a gem.

The woman took in a breath of the chilly air and cast her gaze over the city. In the reflection of her scarlet eyes the city was nothing more than a playpen infected with humans. Humans who needed to learn their place in _her_ world.

"Yes Queen Beryl. The supplies you requested were gathered without problem, the Experiments you ordered were dispatched as well." A loyal servant to his queen, Jadeite, delivered his report bowing down to her.

Queen Beryl took in a breath of air and nodded slowly, her hands clenching around the bulbous ends of her armrests.

"This is perfect," she said dryly. "one year has passed since we infiltrated, a year since the first Experiment was planted and no one other than Sailor V has recognized anything." Her expression dropped thinking about the girl that had been a nuisance for quite a while. "Jadeite do you think with your new _toy_ you would be able to eliminate Sailor V?"

"Well my queen I-" Jadeite started and opened his eyes; still bowed he caught sight of the busy street far below.

"Yes or no Jadeite."

"Yes my queen."

"Excellent. Use a nearby Experiment to lure her out, and then separate her from anyone that may be tagging along. I want this done swiftly." Queen Beryl commanded him in a harsh tone, the underlying message being for him not to fail her.

"My queen, not to doubt your wisdom but if I may, I had an idea of my own." Jadeite said meekly, still bowing before his queen and his cold eyes watching the city.

"Let's hear it..." Beryl twirled her hand through the air, the threatening tone in her voice appearing. "This better be good."

"Our goal is collect energy from the humans to revive our great Queen Metalia. We also want Sailor V out of the picture." Jadeite said as he slowly rose to his feet. "My plan has a way to make sure both happen."

"I'm listening." Queen Beryl said, lacing her fingers and giving Jadeite her genuine attention. Jadeite had become one of her favorites over the years, always striving to prove himself and his disdain from humans was second only to her own. He was of average height with the appearance of a human in his late teenage years. Jadeite had short blonde hair that came down around his face in subtle waves, and hooded blue eyes.

"Experiment-D-U-D." Jadeite retorted and dug a hand into his grey military uniform pocket and revealed a dark purple gem no larger than a baby's fist. "An Experiment of my own creation, along with our scientists. He possesses the skills needed to gather energy in an interesting way and the power to take down any opponent." Queen Beryl narrowed her eyes at him and then at the gem.

"One Experiment will gather sufficient energy _and_ take down Sailor V." She said, paraphrasing Jadeite's pitch rather than questioning it.

"Almost." Jadeite said smoothly as he dug into his pants pocket and drew out a black pouch, tied close with a silver string. "After gathering some of the greatest scientists in the world over the past two years we've been able to create our own breed of genetically modified Youma, and with their recent work we've been able to clone them." Jadeite tugged on the string, allowing the opening of the sack to reveal the collection of identical dark purple gems inside.

"How many are there?"

"Sixty." Jadeite answered quickly, dropping the solitary gem in with the others. "Of course not all sixty will be needed for this mission; twenty should be more than enough for this area." He glanced down to the city below him.

"I'm impressed. Which figure did the design for this Experiment come from?" Beryl asked, waggling her fingers in the air, one of the gems floating from the bag and into her hand.

"Diarmuid Ua Duibhne." Jadeite said as he watched the gem seem to come alive in Beryl's hand, the dark purple now coming to life with a vibrant aura.

"How does our friend here steal energy?" She said, looking over the active gem.

"Kunzite and Zoisite have come up with information regarding the amount of energy that is displaced when humans are afraid, so we'll be sending Experiment-D-U-D to steal that energy."

Queen Beryl's eyes shot daggers into Jadeite and her hand instantly closed around the gem, sealing the light inside. "For your sake, this better work. Dismissed."

Jadeite nodded to his queen before his body stretched out and then extended vertically, then vanishing in a flash of light. Down below in the city he landed on a rooftop, hunched over and clutching his stomach as he staggered to his feet and walked to the side of the roof, glancing down below into an alley.

"No time to waste." He said clutching the black pouch as he leapt from the roof, his body disappearing in a flash of light before showing up again down below in the alley. Free of his Dark Kingdom uniform Jadeite now wore grey shoes, white pants and an off-white dress shirt with grey buttons as he exited the alley and onto the streets of Azabu-Juuban. Upon taking his first step he managed to collide with a blue haired girl who was clutching a stack of books.

"Oh pardon me!" She said apologetically, Jadeite resisted the urge not to gag at the sight of a human woman. He simply shook his head and turned from her, not before slipping one of the gems into her skirt pocket however.

* * *

"See ya later mom!" Naru called back to OSA-P and her mother, Mayumi, that was standing outside as she and Usagi headed off down the sidewalk.

Usagi was staring at the test again, wishing the number would somehow magically change. "I wonder how long I can stay at the arcade before going home…" She sighed and turned a corner only to collide with someone. She shrieked as she slipped from the sidewalk and fell over on the ground.

"Oww..." Usagi whined as she looked upwards to the one she'd come in contact with.

"Watch it dumpling head!"

Usagi didn't have to see his face to realize who it was after she heard his obnoxious voice. Still she tilted her head back slowly and there, donned in his usual attire, was Mamoru Chiba. He wore dull purple dress slacks, fastened around his waist with a belt. Hugging his chest was a black sweater, over that was a rich green blazer, to finish the ensemble he wore a pair of black shoes and dark aviator sunglasses. She'd seen him hanging around Motoki before and had been introduced after bumping into him outside of the arcade last week.

"Mamoru..." Usagi said angrily and rose to her feet, dusting off the back of her skirt before she realized who was standing beside him. Standing at an equal height and draped in camel coloured denim, light pink short-sleeve dress shirt and yellow shoes was Motoki Furuhata.

"Oh Motoki!" Usagi gasped, clapping her hands together and saying his name in a buoyant way. She surveyed him up and down admiring how flawless he looked; his clothes seemed to be tailor-made for his lean body.

"Hey Usagi, hey Naru." He replied. The simple yet sweet answer caused her to melt, meanwhile Mamoru scowled at her behind his shades.

"How's it goin'?" Naru asked plainly, her eyes fixed on Usagi to watch her actions around Motoki.

"A fourteen perfect? I'm impressed; I didn't think such a low grade was possible."

"Huh?" Usagi asked dreamily, not paying attention to anything that wasn't Motoki's face now. "Wait, what?" A deep red filled her face as she saw Mamoru look over her crumbled test. "Give it back! How'd you get that" She shouted and snatched it out his hand.

"You dropped it." he replied smartly. "Are you going to apologize to us?" Mamoru asked smugly.

"I don't have time for you today!" Usagi said as she shook a fist into his face, trying her best to seem upset.

"Then how about watching where you walk next time?" Mamoru added and brushed his hand across his chest while Motoki chuckled nervously.

"So Motoki... You're working at the arcade today right?" Usagi asked sweetly.

"Yup, I'm heading there now, but I need to stop by my place first to get my apron."

"Score! We're on our way too, I guess we'll see you there!"

"What a coincidence." Naru added coyly.

"Make sure you try the new Sailor V game!" Motoki called as he followed after Mamoru who was had already begun walking off.

Usagi stood there for a moment, biting her lip gently while she continued to admire him. To Usagi Motoki was one of the nicest and best looking boys she'd seen around, maybe Mamoru wasn't so bad looking either, but his personality made her despise him._  
_

"Why do you always call her dumpling head?" Motoki asked as he leaned backwards and waved to Usagi.

"I think it's pretty obvious why..." Mamoru chortled before he walked off ahead of his friend and turned the corner.

A short while after, Usagi and Naru strolled through the entrance of the Game Center Crown. An popular building filled with gaming machines, the laughter of children and teenagers, and of course sound effects and the mashing of buttons. Tacked to the blue walls were various gaming posters and advertisements, several dedicated to Sailor V. On their left was a tall crane grabbing machine and past that several ski-ball games lined up. To the right were rows of arcade games and through the rows kids were chasing each other, shouting Sailor V catchphrases.

"Usagi I found it!" Naru pulled her friend away from the desk and towards the corner of the adjacent wall where the game was. It stood nearly seven feet tall and was the shape of a large box which two openings on the sides. Naru peered into one of the openings and gasped. "It's virtual reality!"

"Sweet!" Usagi said and moved back out to the front of the box, observing the screen hanging on it and the buttons beneath. "I guess the battle can be watched out here and these buttons start the game!"

"This is too cool!" She heard Naru say as she stepped back to admire the box's exterior design. "I heard only the big cities have things like this!"

Usagi's wide eyes glanced over the comic book style painting of Sailor V smashing in some guy's face on the box. "It must be nice to be Sailor V…" She frowned and looked at her test again. "Bet she doesn't have to worry about stupid Algebra tests…"

"I see you found it Usagi." From behind them came Motoki, wearing the same outfit from this morning only with his apron now. "Pretty cool huh?" He rubbed the VR box and looked it over.

"It's amazing! Have you played it yet?" Usagi asked and started pressing some the buttons, watching the display light up and change.

"A few times," he admitted shyly. "you should check the high scores."

"Oh why? Are you number one?" She asked sweetly and flicked through the options until she found the leader board. "Whoa! Who's Minano?" Usagi glued her eyes to the screen, noticing the top ten out twenty ranked spots were taken by the same person.

"Not sure really." Motoki crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. "She comes in every once in a while and usually ends up beating one of her own high scores."

"She must be really good then." Naru said coming out from the VR box with a headset, gloves and boots on.

"Uh..." Usagi droned out pointing to Naru. "What is all that?"

"It's the suit you have to wear when you play so the game can register your movements." Motoki answered. "There's even a wand that acts as Sailor V's whip."

"This game is too cool!" Naru squealed and rushed into the box and Usagi giggled, remembering that only a little bit ago Naru was questioning Sailor V's existence.

"So Usagi do you want something to drink?" Motoki asked. "I was going to make a run to the parlor."

"Yes my darling..." She narrowed her eyes dreamily and smiled to him.

"Uh what?"

"I mean sure!" She cackled nervously and scratched the back of her head. "I'm thirsty!"

"Okay be right back."

Once he had disappeared into the crowd Usagi fell to the side against the box and sighed, listening to Naru trampling around inside. Curiosity getting the best of her, she spun around to watch the monitor that was showing Sailor V in a construction zone, leaping from girders and lashing her whip out at some ogre looking creature. After spending a good five minutes watching Usagi glanced between Naru's score, play time, and life points before a chill ran down her spine and the feeling of someone watching her swept over her.

"Hello?" She turned around, expecting someone to be behind her, but to her surprise she was alone, if you didn't count children screeching and chasing each other with rubber swords.

"Something wrong Usagi?" Motoki asked, coming from around a game holding out a styrofoam cup to her.

"Nope!" She said snatching the cup up and sticking the straw into her mouth, eyes darting from side to side, still believing she was being watched.

"Naru's doing great." Motoki moved around Usagi to watch the monitor, Sailor V was now dodging bullets.

"This Minano girl must spend a lot of time playing if she has so many high score spots." With a little bit of an obsession Usagi pressed the control pad button and the in-game screen was replaced with the leader board.

"Maybe she's just really good, then again you know all about wasting time here, right meatball head?" Usagi scowled at the sound of Mamoru's voice coming from the end of the aisle to the left. She turned her head in his direction slowly, with a look of irritation spreading across her face.

"Why don't you come over here and say that!"

Motoki glanced back and forth between the two, sipping his juice in silence while Usagi shot him evil glares.

"I'll pass." With that Mamoru waved to them before disappearing out of sight and from the VR box came Naru, stripping off the suit.

An hour and a half later after Usagi had taken several tries at the game she managed to rank at number forty-five and Naru managed to finish off her smoothie.

"Ready to go home?" Naru asked with a slight sugar buzz.

"Not really..." Usagi whined, the failed test in her book bag reminding her why she wanted to stay out all day in the first place. The pair then said their good-byes to Motoki and exited the arcade, pausing on the street to decide if going home was the only choice they had left.

"Maybe she won't freak out." Naru said, bringing up the test again.

"You must have spent too much time in that box." she quipped. "Mom will kick me out 'cause of it!"

"I'll make a bed for you on the floor just in case." Naru snickered and waved a hand at Usagi as something black circled Usagi's legs. "Uh you got something on you..."

"What! Is it a bug?" Usagi panicked and flailed around, bumping a black cat and knocking it over onto its side.

"Oh Usagi, calm down already it's just a kitty." Naru crouched down and scooped the cat up, holding it under its arms.

"Phew..." Usagi wiped her forehead and stepped up beside Naru to observe the feline. "What is it?"

"Looks like a girl." Naru said and lifted the cat up above her head into the path of the sunlight.

Usagi chortled and the cat let out a low hiss. "I think it's mad."

"She's kinda cute..." The cat began to squirm in Naru's hands and Naru brought her in close, cradling her like a baby. The cat made her way up onto Naru's shoulder and rubbed her head against Naru's, flicking her tail around rapidly.

"You know... This looks like the cat I stepped on this morning..." Usagi said and held her chin, trying to recall as the cat leapt from Naru and onto Usagi's shoulder, her tail smacking Usagi in the eye. "Yep this is the one..." She snatched the tail and looked at the fur noticing some specks of dirt.

"Is it a stray?"

"I doubt it, she's got a collar." Usagi plucked the cat from her shoulders and grabbed golden collar around her neck, turning it around to find a tag which was a golden crescent moon dangling from a chain.

"Pretty..." Naru said admiring it.

"Awful nice for a fur ball." Usagi said grabbing the moon and trying to find the cat's name when she felt another chill run down her spine.

Naru watched her friend seem to freeze in time, staring into the cat's scarlet eyes and clutching the moon tag for dear life. She tapped her shoulder and tried to nudge her before waving a hand in front of her face.

"Usagi!" Naru said and gave her friend's back a pinch.

"Ouch wha?!"

"You okay? You spaced out on me."

"No I didn't..." Usagi lied. The moment she touched the collar she felt as if she'd left the street and ended up far away. In her mind she saw a burning lake, pillars crumbling and crushing people and nine people standing in a palace square.

"Did you find the cat's name?" Naru asked pulling on the collar and causing the cat to yelp at the sudden jerk. "Hmm, L-U-N-A."

"Lun-a." Usagi answered.

"I don't think so, I think it makes the O sound. Luna."

"What's an American cat doing here anyway?" Usagi asked with narrowed eyes, wanting to get past her shortcomings in understanding the English language.

Usagi watched the cat as its eyes never left her, its marble sized scarlet orbs were boring deep into her. Something about it seemed less and less natural by the second. Naru began to pet the cat, but its gaze never changed, nor did it show Naru any attention, not even a purr.

"Maybe she belongs to an American, here on vacation. I wonder where the owner is..." Naru asked as she glanced around the street, looking for nothing in particular until she spotted the bus coming down the street. "My ride's here! I'll see you at school okay Usagi." Naru hugged Usagi around her shoulders, mindful of Luna and waved bye as she boarded the bus.

"Stop staring at me!" Usagi shouted to the cat that narrowed her eyes and began to hiss, raising a paw and batting it against Usagi's hand. Out of instinct Usagi dropped Luna who flipped over, landing on her paws and scurried off out of sight. "Demon cat..." Usagi swung her book bag over her shoulder and marched across the street to head home, along the way she got a similar feeling to the one she had in the arcade, of eyes watching her every move.

* * *

Atop one of the largest jewelry stores in the city the soft sound of rooftop pebbles crunching under his feet echoed in the night. As he strode to the edge he lifted one black shoe onto it and hunched over with his arms resting on his knee. A sigh escaped his lips while the chilly September night air danced past him causing his black cape to rise up and reveal the deep red lining within. Behind a white mask his eyes darted to the moon, a sterling object in the night sky.

"Could I be wasting my time...?"

He dug a snow-white gloved hand into his breast pocket and pulled out a handful of gems from the store. He looked them over one by one, holding them up into the moonlight for only a second before dropping them back into his hand.

"I warned you Mask."

Tuxedo Mask turned away from the edge and found the owner of the voice that had interrupted his nightly heists before. Half of their body remained in the shadows, the lower half of his grey uniform only visible. Of course there wasn't a need to see his face to know who had been watching him.

He smiled to himself for an instant, if there was one thing this quest offered him was a sense of stability. He knew he could steal the gems, he knew he would get away, but he knew someone would try to stop him. Tonight it was a lackey from the Dark Kingdom.

"Nice to see you, Jadeite."

He took a quick step towards him and the man moved forward as well, the moonlight exposing his features. "As much as I appreciated your cooperation in hunting down the Silver Crystal in the beginning, I warned you to give it up."

"Give what up, the crystal?" Mask said, rubbing his chin gently. "If I had it I wouldn't still be here, shooting the breeze with you."

"Give up hunting for it." Jadeite replied easily, he knew Mask was playing dumb, but after several of these run-ins he hadn't the patience for the thief anymore.

"You know I can't do that."

"Why?"

Mask stiffened, inside that was a question he asked himself every day. He knew it was something he had to do, but the reason for it was something that had eluded him for quite some time. After taking a minute to mull it over Mask let a smile play across his lips, his way of saying 'it's none of your business'.

Jadeite's face fell for a moment before a helicopter launched up into the air off to the side, a beam of light tainting the natural light from the moon. A speaker attached to the helicopter cracked to life before a deep voice came through.

"We have the building surrounded, put your hands above your heads!"

"See Mask, this is why I told you to stop. You're so theatrical with your heists; you've created quite a buzz." Jadeite touched a hand to his lip and closed his eyes.

"Don't do it." Mask retorted knowingly, he had come to recognize Jadeite's movements, the way he spoke and what happened when outsiders became involved.

Jadeite glared at Mask before throwing his arm out, the helicopter instantly exploded nigh the rear and the copter began to lurch about in the air. Mask took in a deep breath and furrowed his brow, there was never getting through to him.

"It's funny isn't it?" Jadeite said, pressing a gloved finger to his lip again. "You always end up involving the police, but never harm them. I on the other hand never attract attention of the authorities, but have no problem disposing of the rats."

"You have quite the sense of humor." Mask replied and took a step back to get back onto the edge of the roof. In reaction to his sudden movement Jadeite threw a hand out and caused a spot on the roof to explode, rocks and dust filled the air and the helicopter in the background, whose pilot was trying not to destroy the nearby buildings only cause the mess to be whipped around thanks to the propeller. Jadeite remained calm most of the time; however, when it came to failing his mission and possibly upsetting who it was he answered to, he took drastic measures.

And Tuxedo Mask knew this well.

Mask had kept his eyes on Jadeite regardless of the mess he caused, while Jadeite was having trouble locating the sharp dressed thief as he stomped through the cloud of dust he created. With a shifting noise Jadeite felt something at his throat and realized the situation he'd foolishly walked into. Mask stood at the edge of the roof, black cane in hand and the end of it pressed to his throat. Violence was never his goal, but would he hesitate to take out someone far more troubling to his cause than the police? Someone who stood in the way of his... destiny?

"How foolish." Mask said dryly, slowly a protrusion sprouted from the end of his cane resembling a rose thorn and pressed itself against Jadeite's neck. Jadeite stiffened, making Mask prod the flesh with the prick. "Careful, I'd hate to get blood on that _snazzy_ uniform of yours."

Jadeite stood still and narrowed his eyes at the man before coiling a hand around the cane, a murky energy leaking from under his hand and coating the cane. Mask yanked back, the thorn cutting through the glove on Jadeite's hand and in the moment of his pain Mask slammed his foot into the man's chest. The kick sent him stumbling back and sent Mask over the edge of the building, his cape flapping wildly around his body as he plummeted.

In midair, Mask watched the roof's edge for Jadeite's appearance which became harder the further he fell. He could see the helicopter in the distance that had crash landed in the middle of the street, a frown formed on his face and he saw the people and cars crowding around it. As the wind blew around him a dark spot showed itself off to the right. Mask caught sight of a dark energy blast coming for him and spun around, the cape taking the brunt of the blast, leaving him unharmed.

"Took him long enough..." Mask said under his breath with his arms spread out around him before he reached into his pocket for a switch. Pressing hard on the button his speed slowed and Mask took off through the night sky with the assistance of a hang-glider his cape doubled as. In the distance he saw Jadeite flying through the skies, his pale face and blonde hair easily visible as he rounded a building to put more distance between them. As he passed another building the sight of Jadeite was soon blocked by another blast of dark energy, the black and purple ball came spiraling at him, making it a difficult move to dodge. Difficult, but not impossible.

Mask dove down before heading back up, taking full advantage of tonight's wind to make his maneuvers as grand as possible. After successfully avoiding it he glanced to the right to track the course of the blast to see it fizzle out shortly after passing him. He furrowed his brow, wondering why Jadeite wouldn't attack with everything he had to take him down. He thought it was a little insulting.

He shrugged and angled his body for a quick dive aiming straight for the streets below. Jadeite noticed and shifted his course not to lose him and as Mask came closer to the ground he veered off into a space between two buildings, an empty alley.

Upon landing, his glider fell back into his cape form and he ripped it off along with his jacket, swinging both over his shoulder. His mask he stuffed into his pocket and his hat he hid under the cape. He exited the alley and merged into the citizens walking down the sidewalk, adjusting his strut to match theirs, pretending to notice something in the window or even stopping to look at the sky. Easy things he would do to seem as if he belonged here like everyone else. Rather than hiding from Jadeite, he'd simply blend.

After roughly five minutes of walking he came to an electronics store where a display of computer screens displaying information like the weather for the following day and the time caught his eye. Five minutes until midnight.

He held his head, brushing back a handful of his bangs and sighed. As much as he felt drawn to finding the jewel, staying out late like this was sure to catch up to him and his schoolwork, eventually. He changed his course after assuring himself Jadeite had given up the chase and headed for home. The hunt for the crystal would begin anew, another time.

* * *

With a dull groan Usagi stomped down the steps in her house and heard her mother starting breakfast in the kitchen off to the right.

"Morning U-Usagi?" She said slowly as she poked a head out into the hall and watched her daughter sluggishly drag herself off of the staircase. "You're up early, very early."

Usagi slapped a hand over her mouth to yawn into. "Mhm... Naru called me and wants to get to school early to talk to this new girl who's going to help me study."

"Still," she checked the clock on the wall. "this early?"

"Might as well grab some food on the way!" Usagi shook a bit of her grogginess at the thought of pigging out before school. She blew a kiss to her mom and flew out of the front door.

Hearing the door slam Ikuko looked down at the food she had been preparing and mumbled. "I guess bacon and eggs aren't good enough."

"Naru!" Out on the sidewalk was the Osaka girl, swaying her hips to some song in her head.

"Oh hi Usagi." Naru said and looked her over. "I see you managed to get up and get ready on time like I asked." She gave her a nod of approval followed by a quick thumbs-up. "So where should we get some food?"

"My dad said there's some new pancake place that is supposed to be really great." Usagi answered and tapped her chin.

"What's it called?" Naru inquired and glanced around before crossing the street with her.

"Stack Attack."

"That's so stupid!" She snickered at the name.

Usagi tried to contain a chuckle as she realized the name was quite foolish. "It's run by an American company." Usagi couldn't hold it any longer and started to laugh with her.

It only took the girls roughly ten minutes to arrive at the new pancake shop in town, Stack Attack. According to Kenji their grand opening happened the other day, but for a new and supposedly amazing breakfast restaurant, it was quite dead inside.

As the girls made their way inside Naru glanced around. "It's so quiet in here..." she whispered, unsure if this was the right place.

The building wasn't very large, able to hold maybe thirty-five people at the most, according to the plaque near the door. The floors were covered with a dull white tile that matched the wallpaper hiding behind various poster advertisements. There were booths lined against the walls and a blue velvet rope that started in the middle of the room leading to the counter. Standing at the register was a girl, perhaps in high school with long dark hair that reached to her mid torso and an angular face. She was collecting the money for the latest order when she noticed Naru and Usagi.

"Welcome to Stack Attack!" She called out and waved at the girls as she welcomed them, her voice rather high for someone of her assumed age. Naru and Usagi walked through the velvet ropes to reach the counter as the customer ahead of them headed off to find a seat. "What can I get for you?"

Up close she was more stunning than your average girl. Her lips were rosy and fixed in a perfect effortless pout; she had a strong jawline and piercing blue eyes that darted side to side between the girls.

Naru narrowed her eyes at the menu and Usagi did the same, but the latter seemed more interested in the restaurants logo of a pancake with sharp teeth than the food. "Do you have anything you'd recommend? M-Megumi." Naru asked as she looked to the girl's name tag.

"Well we have our E-Z Stack; it's all anyone's been ordering since we opened. I'm not allowed to eat the food, but I hear it's to _die_ for." On her last few words Megumi leaned in closer, her voice dropped to one that seemed more natural as she spoke to the girls.

Naru looked back to the menu and pursed her lips as she tried to find the item on the menu. "You're not allowed to eat it?" she asked.

"Watching my figure." Megumi answered and turned to the side, giving the girls a view of her svelte build. Usagi tilted her head to the side, taking notice of how perfect the girl's body seemed.

"I guess we'll have two orders of that then..." Usagi whined, scanning the menu for the E-Z Stack she as she dug into her bag and fished out her purse. "This should cover it." Usagi tossed out a few wadded up bills and coins on the counter.

Naru grinned and patted Usagi's back. "Thanks Usagi, I'll take care of the snacks for the girl's night." Naru chimed and spun around to look for a table. "Wow the food must be really good."

"Why?" Usagi asked as she turned and leaned back against the counter, surveying the rest of the room.

"Everyone looks stuffed." Naru stated as she pointed to a few middle-aged customers who had sunken down in their booths and were either rubbing their stomachs or looking at their empty plates with a sense of shame.

"That's what Shingo looks like when mom makes his birthday dinner, except these people are wearing pants." Usagi quipped and scrunched up her face after seeing majority of the people inside all unaware how unattractive they looked.

"Order up!" Megumi shouted from behind the girls. Naru and Usagi spun around instantly, somewhat startled, as Megumi slammed a tray down onto the counter. Two plates rested on the tray with two steaming stacks of fluffy golden pancakes topped with syrup, whipped cream, various fruits with chocolate sauce dripping from the top.

"That was really fast..." Usagi muttered.

"Nothing about these pancakes looks easy." Naru spoke quietly as she looked the stack up and down. The stacks were made up of four pancakes each; each one seemed to have butter seeping out at the sides.

"I can see why they're sitting like that now..." Usagi grabbed the tray carefully, noting it had some weight to it and turned from the counter and headed out of the velvet area to the nearest booth. The girls plopped down into seats near the door and eyed their individual stacks.

"This is going to go straight to my thighs!" Naru proclaimed, but it didn't stop her from cutting a chunk out of the mountain of food and stuffing it into her mouth.

Usagi waited to get an okay sign from Naru that the food was good, which she spotted in the form of a thumbs-up, before she dug in.

"It's so sweet..." Usagi said with a sheepish grin as a bit of drool tried to escape from her mouth after having her first bite.

Behind the counter Megumi watched the two girls begin to devour their food with a grin. "Eat up girls…"

* * *

End of Chapter One

* * *

Next, Jadeite finishes his preparation and the Dark Kingdom's plan begins and hits close to home for Usagi. Will she be able to save someone she cares for? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Two - Goodbye, Halcyon Days**


	2. Goodbye, Halcyon Days

**Cosmic Warriors  
**

******Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about.

**Note: **Thanks for the reviews and for following, it means a lot. If you review, favorite, or follow I'll thank you personally, and I'll leave review notes here for guests. Thanks again to JulietShadow and SadieSwirl for being my beta readers.  
**Review Note - AM: **I'm very glad you liked it. When I first started writing it the beginning was very different. I changed it around because I wanted to keep it the same as the anime to give you readers a sense of something familiar and that we weren't heading into the changes so early. Experiments are my own original breed of enemies for the Dark Kingdom to use, you'll learn more about them later. Because the anime relied on mythology I wanted to bring in more mythological characters. I've also changed the sight typo, thank you.

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO - Goodbye, Halcyon days**

* * *

"Morning Ami!" Naru shouted coming up the sidewalk with Usagi, both of them waving to a girl standing at the entrance to the school with a book in her hands.

Ami Mizuno was a girl with a petite frame and stunning blue hair and equally blue eyes. She spun around on her heels and glanced up from her book she had pressed to her chest to take notice of the girls. Sliding round glasses up onto her face she waved back to Naru gently.

"Good morning." Ami watched them approach, taking careful notice of Usagi who looked as if she'd just rolled out of bed.

"G'morning…" Usagi answered back sheepishly.

"Ami this is Usagi Tsukino she's in our class." Naru introduced her friend who was in mid yawn.

"Really? I didn't see her in class with us yesterday." Ami adjusted her glasses again, looking Usagi up and down; to be sure she hadn't forgotten the girl.

"I was late!" Usagi whined and rubbed her eyes, trying to shake the need to sleep after eating her weight in pancakes.

"Well it's nice to meet you." Ami chuckled at her and closed her textbook gently. "Is there something you needed?" She asked, knowing they wouldn't make such an effort to talk to her outside of class if there wasn't another reason.

"We were wondering if you wouldn't mind - ahh!" Naru cut off and squealed as she felt something furry brush against her cheek and add weight to her shoulder before a black cat leapt onto Ami.

"It's Luna!" Usagi cried, opening her blue eyes wide to see the same cat from the arcade.

"How'd she find us?" Naru asked brushing her shoulder off while Luna sniffed and rubbed against Ami who was standing like a statue.

"Is this your cat Usagi?" Ami asked, watching Luna as she turned around and slapped the side of her head with her tail.

"Nope, that demon cat doesn't belong to me. We found her wandering outside the arcade yesterday, I really don't know how she found us here…" Usagi narrowed her eyes at the cat, still not sure what it was about the feline that felt odd.

"Nice kitty…" Ami said gingerly and raised a hand to rub Luna's head but was met with a swatting black paw instead of a purr of delight. "Oh!" Ami shook her shoulder trying to get Luna off and the cat hopped from her spot onto Usagi's shoulder where she hissed at Ami.

"She must be picky…" Naru said and pressed a finger to her lip.

Ami chuckled nervously while she checked her shoulder. "I guess so…"

"So anyway, Ami!" Naru rebounded back into her previous thought like a ball attached to a string. "We were wondering if you could help Usagi with her school work."

"Oh sure! Which do you need help in? Math or science? Those are my favorites." Not unlike Naru, Ami took bounced back instantly.

Usagi frowned and began scratching under Luna's chin. "What do you mean or...?" she said with a heavy sigh.

Ami snickered behind her hand and glanced to a blue watch on her wrist. "Oh! I need to pick some books up from my locker I'll see you two in class!" Ami turned and hurried into the schoolyard, as the girl ran off Luna leapt off Usagi's shoulder and scurried across the ground.

"Bye kitty." Usagi frowned and watched Naru crouch down to the ground.

She reached out for something shining on the ground before standing back up. "Do you think Ami dropped this?" Naru asked holding out a hand to Usagi, resting in her palm was a purple gem, inside was a dark spot that seemed to move.

"I didn't hear it hit the ground." Usagi answered as she leaned over, staring down at the gem. "Finders keepers Naru."

"Guess so..." Naru mumbled and stared into the gem at the moving black swirl inside before pocketing it. "So did you get your test signed?"

"I totally forgot about it!" Usagi burst out and dug her hand into her bag and grabbed the slightly balled up fourteen percent test. "Oh man!"

After a day of school Usagi had been assigned enough homework that would leave her with a headache for days, her only hope was Ami whom she and Naru met up with after class to talk about studying.

"How about your house Usagi?" Naru offered as the three of them crossed the yard.

"Sure."

"Actually I'm a little busy today, I have after school work to take care of, is tomorrow okay with you two?" Ami answered regretfully.

"Tomorrow's fine too!" Naru and Usagi answered together.

"Wonderful." Ami smiled, the sadness in her voice fading away.

Naru flipped through some of the pages she was holding and nodded her head. "Most of this work isn't due until the end of the week anyway." Naru added in.

"Right, well I'll see you two tomorrow." Ami waved and crossed the rest of the schoolyard before heading across the street.

* * *

Queen Beryl sat on her wonted throne, now hovering a foot above the ground in a long hall with thick stone pillars that reached upwards into the darkness that coated the ceiling, past anyone's field of vision. The ceiling was concealed behind a deep veil of dark fog that never seemed to dissipate. Ahead of her and lined up hovering near the walls four metallic suits were being operated on; sparks flew off the battle suits as torches were pressed to them.

As the throne moved down the hall a spot behind it in the floor opened and from it Jadeite's body emerged. As he stepped down the hole slowly closed to reform into the stone flooring.

"My Queen, the gems were distributed yesterday as planned and I will be activating them shortly." Jadeite announced walking gingerly behind the moving cathedra.

"Excellent Jadeite." She said, turning to acknowledge him. "I'm impressed with your ability to have this done so quickly." Beryl continued dryly. "If only everyone here was as competent." Her eyes caught an inept engineer drop a sheet of metal that had been fixed to become part of a chest plate.

"My Queen, is having _humans _work for us the-" Jadeite started with disgust as he watched several of the workers gather to pick up the metal

"Do not question me Jadeite." Beryl growled and gripped her murky orb, instantly the pressure in the room increased, forcing Jadeite and the workers down onto their knees in a form of submission. "With wills weak enough to break and control, humans are the perfect workers." She loosened hold of the orb and Jadeite felt the weight crashing down on him lighten before he struggled to his feet.

"Of course, my Queen…" He said smugly, rubbing his shoulder. "Then these battle suits, why do we require so much protection?" Jadeite inquired as they moved further on down the hall and he turned to the first suit. It stood nearly seven feet tall, made in its entirety of metal that now had a deep purple hue to it. The sheets of metal had been crafted into individual pieces for each suit consisting of feet and leg guards, a four part diamond-shaped guard around the waist, a thick chest plate with pointed shoulder protectors and plates that protected the arms until it reached the finger gauntlets. The helmet's eye slit was a horizontal slash in the shape of an elongated V that glowed blue.

"You certainly have a lot to say today." She cast a challenging look back to him. "It's less for your protection and more for destruction." Beryl answered. "In the suits not only will you be unstoppable, but the damage you will inflict will increase tenfold!"

"I take it there is something inside that makes them move." He quipped, catching another look from her. "None of us would be capable of moving such heavy suits without assistance."

"The suits will rely on your energy to move, it is imperative you are feeling your best when you are in them."

"Understood."

"Is that all you came to speak with me about Jadeite?" She asked, moving her bony fingers around the orb once more, Jadeite nodded slowly before bowing to her. "Then I shall be waiting to hear on the success of your mission." With that the throne slithered down the rest of the hall, forcing workers out of the way unless they wanted to be bowled over.

When he was sure the queen was out of range and none of the workers had their eyes cast on him, Jadeite lurched over and staggered into a nearby wall. His breathing quickly became erratic as he felt the world twist around him, the dark aura seeping from the walls seemed to envelop him before he felt the dull twinge in his throat. Resisting the urge he felt would cause him too much discomfort, but to follow through would be equally unpleasant. His prepared himself for the pain as he slapped a hand to his mouth as he coughed hard into it. He felt the warm sputum hit the glove and without having to look he knew blood was mixed in with it. He could taste it.

He dropped his body back against the wall and let the dusk surround him, taking him away from the operation hall and sending him somewhere deeper in the kingdom.

* * *

Kicking her legs over the edge of her bed Usagi clamped her cold lips around the equally cold spoon that was shoveling her ice cream. She hummed with delight as the frozen treat laced with cake frosting sent her taste buds into frenzy. Beside her were open textbooks, pencils and homework pages she had been attempting to tackle since she'd gotten home. An hour trying to do plot points on graphs and pronounce nationalities in English was all she could take before a break was needed.

She scooped out another helping of her slowly melting treat before dropping the spoon into her mouth when something caught her eye. She bit down on the spoon and rolled off to the right, with some difficulty, and there sitting outside her window was a black cat. The same one from the arcade and school, Luna.

Usagi choked back a little and yanked the spoon from her mouth, tossing it into the depleting ice cream carton before sliding off the bed. At the window she crouched down and slid it open, she watched Luna's tail flick wildly before the feline leapt inside.

"Ahh!" Usagi shouted and stumbling back. "What are you doing here cat?"

Luna pounced onto the bed and seemed to survey Usagi's mess of schoolwork and dairy pleasure.

"Hey!" Usagi bawled and swatted at her as she sniffed the ice cream carton. Luna hopped to the side and slapped a paw of retracted claws down on Usagi's hand and made the girl shriek. "That's it! Get out!" Usagi bit her lip and snatched the cat up by the scruff of her neck and carried her back to the window when a gleam of light hit her eye.

"Wha-" Usagi looked around her room for a moment, dark spots following her eyes before she looked back to the cat, more specifically at her moon tag. "This thing again…" Usagi grabbed and examined it, hoping to find the name of the cat's owner, even though she didn't remember seeing one before. Soon after she began to get the feeling of cold arms embracing her and in her mind the moon tag shone brightly before filling her mind's eye with light and hazy images.

The unrecognizable images began to slur together until a solid picture had formed, a shimmering lake that reflected fireworks in the night sky and a silvery citadel on the ground. Twirling on the castle grounds were women in striking ball gowns and men who donned black tuxedos wearing masquerade-style masks. Albeit none of their faces could be seen she knew they were beautiful, simply from how they stirred and dressed. She watched as women in gowns of every colour; and men holding them, graced the floor with their presence. In the ballroom was a stairway and at the top stood a young girl in a white dress with golden tresses that gushed down her back.

The girl's gaze coasted across the room, taking in the splendor of her party guests before she began to descend the steps to meet with them on the floor. Each step she took her pace grew faster until she reached the bottom and ran across the room. She kept her arms tucked in to her chest as her guests began dropping to the floor in heaps, tears streaming from her eyes. As she dashed across the ballroom floor she gripped the sides of her dress to hold it up, she passed through two doors that led her onto a balcony where she could view the kingdom.

Pearl white pillars cracked and ripped from the ground, most falling harmlessly on their sides however some were crushing the life out of various guests. The crystal clear lake was no more, now littered with bodies and the blood of guests. Fire raced through the castle, paying no mind to what or who it burned.

She hoisted herself up onto the ledge of the balcony, overlooking the fouled kingdom. Fissures were cleaving through the ground and dropping chunks of the foundation, the guests who were unfortunate enough to still be alive were either running from the fire on their backs or being slew by masked guards in grey uniforms. In the sky above was a mass of dark clouds, the unnatural formation seemed to bear a face that was laughing at the kingdom. The girl's eyes swelled before she leaned forward, her feet leaving the railing and her body dropping.

Usagi felt something tug within her and her grip loosen and Luna dropped to the floor. She stumbled and back collapsed onto her bed, dropping a hand onto her forehead and frowning. She was clammy and could feel the first beads of cold sweat coming on._  
_

Off to her right she watched Luna sit down slowly and stare at her, red eyes still boring into her. She could have sworn she saw her mouth open as if to meow, but that's not what came out. Usagi rolled her eyes as her phone rang out in her room, feeling the aftereffect of her ice cream she forced herself over and crawled across the bed before slapping a hand onto the phone. Behind her Luna flicked her tail madly and bellowed out a hiss.

"Mm hello?" Usagi said drearily into the phone as she glanced back to Luna who was tapping her leg.

"HELP!"

"What's wrong?" Usagi stiffened, the voice coming through the phone she recognized as Naru's, and she sounded petrified.

"There's a man in the house... He…" Naru's voice fell so silent Usagi had to mash the phone against her ear to hear everything.

"Where are you now?"

"I-I'm in my room hiding under my bed..."

"Okay, uh call the police." Usagi said as calmly as possible, feeling heat race to her forehead. "Naru call the police!"

"I did!" Naru whined through the receiver which tugged on Usagi's heart. "Usagi he-"

"It'll be okay Naru." Through the phone Usagi heard the sound of something hitting heavily against something else followed by Naru's trembling scream. Her eyes opened wide and she pulled the phone away from her ear, staring at it. "What happened?"

"HE'S BACK!" Naru was crying hard now, in between her sobs came moments of heavy breathing and whines.

"Okay Naru. Everything will be fine. The police are coming and I'm on my way too okay? I'm on my way!" Usagi struggled to remain calm as she listened to her friend's frightened whines get louder with each thud the intruder made on her door.

"Please hurry..." Naru whined closely into the phone before the sound of something snapping and crashing came through and Naru's scream followed.

"Naru I'm coming!" Usagi threw on her shoes and swung her door open before a man's voice came through the phone which Naru's scream almost covered up before the line went dead. "Naru! Naru!"

Luna watched with soundless urgency as Usagi bolted out of her room and raced down the steps. She wasn't sure which emotion was controlling her actions at the moment, panic or anger. Either one fueled her as she flew out of her house and down the walkway as fast as her legs could carry her.

It took Usagi less than ten minutes to reach the front of the OSA-P jewelry store. Outside she hunched over and inhaled sharp breaths of the cold air. She wheezed her friends name before rushing to the door, flying through it instantly and tumbling to the floor, the carpet burning her shins. She rolled over and ignored the dull throb into her kneecaps when she heard the sound of something rustling ahead of her.

"Hey!" Usagi screamed, noticing she wasn't alone in the room. Although it was dark she could still make out the figure hunched over one of the jewelry display cases in the middle of the room. They were tall and dressed in all black; from where she lay she could see a hint of red somewhere on them. She staggered to her feet and charged them only to go running into the case as the figure sidestepped and seemed to disappear into the darkness. She rubbed her side that rammed into the case when she heard the door in the back of the store slam shut. Usagi groaned and pushed off from the case, following after them into the back hallway just in time to see the figure dashing up the steps

"Get back here!" Usagi gripped the staircase railing, ignoring the pain searing in her legs, and rushed after the person up the asked herself if this could be the guy as she took the steps two at a time and reached the landing strip only to freeze in place. Down the hall, half illuminated by light streaming in from outside stood a man with a hand clamped around Naru's throat.

"Naru!" Usagi rushed forward only to suddenly stop, noticing this man wasn't the same one from downstairs.

He turned his head slowly, allowing Usagi to see his remarkable features. His long dark hair, pushed back in a rough style and ran down the length of his back, with a solitary strand crossing over his face and stopping near his chin. From a distance his eyes reminded Usagi of a cat, or anything other than a human. He wore a dull grey jumpsuit that covered everything from the neck down that fit him well, exposing each of his muscles and curves of his body. On his hands and feet were darkened portions of fabric, resembling gloves and boots.

"Let her go!" Usagi choked on her words as she feigned bravery. She tightly clenched her fists and tried to remain still, feeling something pull in her heart that made her feel uneasy looking at him. He seemed surreal; the entire moment did, as if this was something that could only happen in movies.

She watched him shrug and surrender his hold on her; Naru hit the ground and fell to her side gasping for air. While his gaze was focused on her Usagi took the chance and rushed to him. Her efforts quickly proved to be otiose as he backhanded her and sent her shuddering back before she fell.

The sting pulsated in her jaw and the taste of blood filled her mouth as she scooted up against the wall. The man stepped in closer, his body moving into the path of the moonlight, his hard features becoming visible now. He had trimmed eyebrows, a high nose bridge, a hard cut jaw and two moles placed on each side of his face in vertical lines. He dropped down quickly, squatting in front of her like someone would to speak to a child and she pressed herself up against the wall harder.

"What should we call you...?" He asked in a deep voice that sent chills down her spine and caused her body to quake for a moment. "Blondie?" He moved a hand towards one of her pigtails, Usagi whined and felt her eyes burn with tears as he stroked one of them.

As an automatic response Usagi swung a hand up to slap him. "Leave me alone!" Before it could connect, his own cold extremity clamped around her wrist, forcing her thumb inwards and his fingers to dig into the back of her hand. Usagi whined as she thrashed to break free as he thrust the hand into Usagi's bust, forcing out a cough of air as he gripped her, getting a handful of her blouse and managing to snag her bra as well, and lifted her off the ground as he stood.

Usagi noticed on his back two poles with pointed ends attached to a holder that fastened on his shoulder and what looked like two sword hilts being held in place. She swung her feet, desperately trying to harm him or cause him to drop her. Neither happened, but the sound of something breaking in front of her did alert her to Naru's presence again.

Standing at the end of the hall, in a block of moonlight coming from her bedroom, Naru was clutching a ceramic pot, the broken remnants of the one she'd thrown rested near the man's feet. "Get out - of my house!" She squeaked and raised the other pot.

"You..." His grip on Usagi tightened before she felt the world around her torque and her head crashed against a wall, she wasn't sure which it was as she slid down into a heap on the floor. Though her vision was being clouded by the pain she could see Naru cowering at the end of the hall before dashing into her room and the man followed after her.

"Na-" Usagi struggled to even sit up straight, moving caused an expected twinge in her back. As her vision blurred in and out, her eyelids became heavy and each time she closed them a chunk of the night seemed to pass.

Down at the end of the hall she spotted a black spot with red dots facing her, each time her vision left her and came back it seemed to get closer. Before she knew it Luna, was perched on her stomach. Though in her opaque confusion she couldn't quite register it or tell if she was really there or not.

She felt her eye lids close on her again and only Naru's scream that blasted through the house shook her from the haze. Her body ached to move but her will forced her to stand and stagger down the hall.

"N-Naru!" Usagi called and her foot caught on the rug in the hall and she tumbled forward, one of her nails breaking on the wall as she fell into the bedroom doorway. Inside Naru was pinned down against her bed, her feet tucked up close to her and pressing against her attacker's body as he held a death grip on her throat.

As Usagi rose to her feet, clutching the doorway for support she felt something cold fall against her wrist. She took a lingering glance at Naru before looking to her wrist, fastened around it was a silver bracelet with a golden crescent moon charm hanging from it.

"Wha-?" Turning her hand around she took hold of the charm, her mind becoming fuzzy and in the corner of her eye she saw a blur of black dart across the floor. She tried to follow it with narrowed eyes but before she could register what happened Luna leapt from the bed and into her face. All she saw were red eyes before everything became bright.

The throbbing pain she felt was washed away and the darkness was gone, only replaced by swirling light that then formed into a picture in her mind's eye. Standing on marble flooring were nine women, dressed down with different coloured gowns covered with silver armor. In their hands were various weapons and on their faces were white masks. Their image shifted to a woman in a strapless purple dress and red hair and before Usagi could focus in on her the image changed again now to frail figure covered by a purple cloth. Usagi felt a dull pain try to reach her, but nothing seemed to pierce the light as the image changed again to various figures, all shielded by darkness that seemed to sizzle with intensity. A woman with dark hair and devilishly beautiful looks came into focus next before she was outshone by a distraught woman in golden armor.

All sorts of images flashed in her mind before it all came back to the swirling light and in it was the faint outline of a woman. Her lips were all Usagi could properly make out at first, they were moving. She was speaking. Feathers drifted past her as her figure became clearer, dressed in a floor length white gown that extended further than she could see the woman appeared to be pleading for someone to hear her. Golden pigtails draped down her back as her voice became audible. The view began to pan out, showing the woman standing in a crystal tower, her voice coming in clearer than before. Ringing through Usagi's head were the same words, over and over, begging to be called.

She held her hand out, the crescent charm warm to the touch now. Within her hand beams of light broke through. The words the woman had spoken, she heard them clearly now, perhaps she'd always heard them, but now perhaps she could truly _hear _them.

"I know I'm a crybaby, irresponsible and not always dependable, but I feel something calling to me. There has to be meaning to it, and I'm going to figure it out. The memories and the visions I've seen. I'll do it while I protect my friends, while I protect... everyone!"

"Cosmic Embodiment: Moon!"

With her arm outstretched and clutching the charm Usagi turned her hand to the ceiling. Her fingers coiled back and let loose a stream of light as she raised her arm above her. Naru and her attacker narrowed their eyes at the light and Luna watched as Usagi lifted off the ground, leaning backwards as the light took the shape of a ribbon that quickly wrapped around her now pure white body. As the ribbon swirled faster it formed a curved column of light around her that a cracked appeared on only a second after forming. It then broke into two pieces before bursting open, taking the shape of angelic wings behind Usagi who was no longer dressed in her school uniform.

Hovering in the air she was covered from her neck down in a streamline skintight blue jumpsuit, from her shins down were covered in a vibrant red that gave the impression of boots, her forearms and the insides of her thighs and the sides of her torso were also covered in the same red colour. As her body rocked forward she tapped her heels and red lines shot up from the boots, creating vertical lines up from her shins to her hips before wrapping around her waist and running down her backside and stopping at her calves. From her waist two more lines ran upwards crossing her chest and looped over her shoulders before stopping under her arms. She crossed her arms over her chest as light burst from the backs of her hands, white crescent moons forming in place of the light.

Once Usagi's feet touched the ground the wings on her back flapped wildly before fading into her suit and a larger crescent moon formed there. Her buns along with her long pigtails were now held in a single tight bun style, twisted and held in place at the crown of her head. Unconsciously she tapped a finger to her forehead where light flecks appeared before expanding and taking the shape of a hardened white lozenge-shaped mask with a cross-shaped slash on it, giving her a line to see through a slit to breathe through.

From her hand came a blue light that exploded into an optical flare and instantly after that the blade of what looked like a lance, dug into the floor. The blade resembled a stretched triangle of sorts with a wide base that ended with a sharp point, about a foot shorter than the average blade. She held the weapon by resting her hand onto the crescent moon pommel of its blue grip which led to a double fuller cross-guard.

"He warned me a Cosmic Warrior may show up, but I thought he was kidding..." The attacker shielded his eyes as they adjusted to the darkness after the girl's light show ended and lifted himself off a now unconscious Naru.

"Cosmic what?" She felt herself exhale for the first time in a few minutes, her hot breath running up the inside of her mask and hitting her in the face. She stood still for a moment, trying to take it all in, but all she could focus on was the man standing across from her and the weapon she was holding.

With some difficultly she pulled the lance up and held it out in front of her. Although it lacked the length and therefore the weight of a regular blade, to someone like her it might as well have weighed a ton.

"Watch who you raise your blade to..." He challenged as he raised a hand to his back, his fingers coiling around one of the objects strapped to him, instantly he yanked out the one on the far right and twirled it around in front of him. "If you wish to cross blades with me then so be it, but do me the honor of telling me your name." He said slowly, wrapping the dark cloth that covered his weapon around his hand and began to unravel it.

"U-Usagi Tsukino." She stuttered, her voice resonating through the mask slit, her hands trembling on the grip.

"I am Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, I was a once proud warrior for Fianna." He said as continued to unwrap, the glory of his weapon becoming visible as the dark cloth dropped to the floor. "However it seems now I am working for another alliance..." In his hands he held a vibrant red spear with a blade that curved inwards on the sides with some type of engraving. "Now tell me again, what your name is Cosmic Warrior?!"

She heard it ring out like a chime within her. She felt it like a heartbeat, inside her again like she heard the first words; they danced on her lips ready to present themselves. A surge of energy raced through her body as she lowered herself into a battle stance, feeling the strength assist her she was able to hold the lance steady. The words continued to come to her, lining up in the back of her mind ready to be spoken.

"The guardian of love and justice, Warrior Moon!" She said proudly, feeling more of the new energy filling her being. In her heart she felt the voice intensify, as if she had been saying this for a thousand years. As if she was destined to say it for a thousand more.

"And in the name of the Moon. I will punish you!" With a trembling arm she held the lance out, aiming the tip at him.

"So be it." Diarmuid said in a harsh tone as he cocked his head back and lunged to her. With his spear out, he made a quick thrust at her, Warrior Moon squeaked before leaping to the side. Intuitively she rolled off to the side as the red spear came crashing down where she was previously laying. She then stumbled back to her feet, seeing something dark leap away onto the bed.

"I don't wanna do this!" She whined and swung the lance blindly at him, with little effort Diarmuid stopped the attack by holding the spear's shaft up to block it.

With a grunt Moon pulled back for another swing which he easily hopped over, and slammed his spear tip down onto the blade. The force caused her hold on the lance to break and the weapon clattered on the floor. "No!" She quickly dove to retrieve it as Diarmuid stabbed his spear down. As she got to her feet she only had time to watch him swing his body around the spear like a pole before his feet impacted her shoulder and sent her flying into the corner, her arm busting through the wall.

Moon sniffled, feeling tears trek down her face as Diarmuid plucked his spear from the ground. "That hurt! I really don't want to do this!" She whined and sniffled again, forcing herself up as Diarmuid tossed the spear up and snatched it in midair before hurling it at her. As the crimson spear flew at her, she shifted her weight to the side and by sheer luck it grazed the side of the mask before embedding itself in the wall. She felt her heart beating uncontrollably as she grabbed her lance and stepped up between him and the spear.

With weak arms she held the lance and trembled from her head to her toes. "I wanna go home…" The strength and power she felt only a minute before had abandoned her, the pain in her knees, head, and back were all coming back slowly.

"Fight me Warrior!" Diarmuid barked and quickly threw a hand out and silently recalled his red spear to him. Moon only saw the flash of red and then felt the pain of her side being torn open as the spear cut through her.

She buckled instantly, stabbing the lance into the floor to act as support. "Ow!" She was crying hard now, the wailing only amplified within her mask and the hot tears dripped off her chin. "I don't want to fight…" She moaned to herself as she clutched her side and felt the blood seeping over her fingers.

From the corner of the cross slash she saw Luna leap from the bed at Diarmuid only for the man to bring a powerful arm across Luna's side. With a harsh cry the cat was sent flying across the room and slammed into the doorframe.

"Luna!" Through the pain she gripped the lance and charged forward. "Hey you bully!" She swung the blade wildly with high hopes to cut, but watched him flip backwards, his lithe body easily dodging the blade. As soon as he touched the ground he readied himself for a charge, Moon held the blade up flat and felt the impact of the spear colliding with it. The struggle to not let the spear tip slide past on the blade lasted only a second and with a quick shift in his weight Diarmuid rushed past her, the tip slicing into her shoulder.

She choked back tears and the urge to grip her shoulder, but as she stumbled back she found it harder and harder to keep the lance aloft. To her right was a blur of motion and instantly he was beside her, his hand gripped her arm and tried to pull at her suit, but simply slipped off the material before he clamped his hand around her upper arm. Before she could react the world was torn from around her and she was hurled across the room and against the wall. As she hit her legs locked and caused her to cry out in pain. She then choked on her cry as Diarmuid slammed the shaft of the spear against her throat.

The feeling of encroaching death gripped her and caused her to gasp for even a single breath of air as he applied intense pressure. He leaned in closer, his breath running down her neck, his presence caused her to quiver and cry as a flash of yellow stunned her. Between them emerged a second spear, the tip of it slid up across her chest before it poked against her throat. Through watery eyes she watched a dangerous smile cross his lips.

In her heart she felt a familiar beating, like the voice was resonating within and was begging to be set free. She could hear it clearly, the words it spoke to her. But the cold shaft prevented her to uttering them. She felt her eyes roll back before she heard the sound of glass shattering and several streaks of red tore through the air and slammed into Diarmuid, one digging into the floor. Diarmuid staggered off her and she fell to the ground choking heavily. He clutched his shoulder and glanced around the room for the culprit but only managed to focus on Moon as she crawled around.

Moon poked a red curved dart that was stuck in the ground "What is this?" She plucked it out of the floor and looked it over before she clutched it in her hand.

With a nasty growl Diarmuid held his gilded spear near the middle and jabbed at her. With a hoarse shriek she jumped to her feet, the tip of the spear grazing against the side of her mask once she stood tall. From behind her Moon could feel the night's air beating against her suit and glanced back to the closed window with several jagged holes in it.

"What was that?" She looked back to Diarmuid who gripped his left shoulder with one hand and twirled his crimson spear with the other.

"Pathetic..." He said with disgust before hurling the spear out at her, she shrieked and quickly dropped to the ground. Moon covered her head as the glass shattered and fell around her. She narrowed her eyes as she looked over the red dart in her hand before she glanced up to Diarmuid.

She scrambled to her feet as she saw the opening in his left side, but she stopped her assault upon hearing the whizzing of something flying through the air. She spun around and held the lance up. She never saw it coming but the force assured her that the spear flew back in the window and clashed with the blade.

"You're open!" From behind her Diarmuid shouted and called back his golden spear and brought it down towards her back. Around her Moon heard the shuffling of feet and the sound of fabric whipping in the wind. As she turned the dark figure whom she assumed was stealing had blocked the attack with what looked like a cane.

"You'll be punished for interfering in this matter!" Diarmuid bayed. "A battle between knights should stay between knights!"

"Warrior Moon was it?" From the figure came a man's voice she seemed to recognize, but she couldn't pin it down. He turned his head to her slowly, giving her a chance to see the upper half of his face covered in white masquerade-style mask. "As Tuxedo Mask I have no problem breaking into a fight I deem unf-"

Before he could finish Diarmuid leapt back and hurled the golden spear across the room in front of Mask. "I don't have time for your cheesy speeches!" Diarmuid cackled and brought his crimson spear to his hand.

"Fair enough..." Mask quickly spun his cane around and used it to parry the first attack Diarmuid attempted. While the two exchanged blows Moon fell to the ground, the relief of being saved overwhelming her and the adrenaline leaving her body. She made her way past the bed to see Naru's unconscious body laying limp on the edge and then to the door to the black cat who was equally wilted.

"Stupid kitty..." Moon whined and lifted Luna's body up, as far as she could tell she was breathing. In the background she could hear Diarmuid's spears swinging around before clashing with Mask's cane.

Mask and Diarmuid continued their game with Mask now on the offense, using his cane like a pole to whack him with. Diarmuid however wasn't as fast as Mask and was usually feeling the full brunt of his blows, the cane coming down hard on his limbs. He gained the upper hand however by using both spears at once, with some strain on his wounded shoulder and forced Mask into using all his strength to stop them.

"Ha!" Diarmuid jutted his hand out and sent the two spears flying back into the wall and knocked Mask off his balance; he then reached out to Mask and took hold of his golden spear as it pierced through Mask's body. Mask dropped his cane and wrapped his hands around the weapon that had impaled him, feeling blood rush up from his stomach and out his mouth.

"Ha ha!" Diarmuid snorted as he called back his crimson spear and pointed it to Mask's neck.

"Die!" Diarmuid shouted as he raised his spear into the air to impale Mask, but Moon's blade rammed through his spine before he had a chance to strike.

Warrior Moon choked back tears and her hands trembled on the grip of the lance. "I can't let you hurt anyone else…" Slowly he turned his head to look back to her, blood trickling down from the corners of his lips and his spear dropping to the floor. Diarmuid muttered something inaudible as Moon struggled to catch her breath before her eyes caught something moving around her hands. Spreading from his body were hundreds, maybe thousands, of black particles.

"Warrior Moon, you have to finish it..." Mask said weakly, capturing her attention.

"I can't!" Moon said, struggling to hold onto her lance any longer, the black bits floating up to her face now. "He's just a human!"

"Warrior Moon…" Mask said as he lifted himself up slowly, to Moon's delight. "He's far from a human… He's an Experiment created by the Dark Kingdom."

"Experiment?" Warrior Moon looked back to Diarmuid who had his eyes focused on the ground.

"The Dark Kingdom somehow has been able to recreate past heroes whose stories are now a part of legends in mythology..." Diarmuid placed a hand on Usagi's blade and forced himself off of it. "Sadly I'm nothing but Experiment-D-U-D to them." The blood and flesh covered blade hit the ground and Diarmuid stumbled to the window, climbing out slowly.

"Warrior Moon you must stop him!" Mask shouted, leaning against the bed frame.

"I can still hear it... The words that were there before... Moon." she whispered to herself as she leaned towards the window. Moon lifted the lance as she came to the window, the blade glowing white with a blue outer glow and becoming heavier in her hand as the blade itself extended.

"Moon Blade-" She felt the voice die as her limbs gave way and she collapsed to the floor. The full moon fading to black as she lost consciousness.

She wasn't sure how long she had been out, but when she came to she was still on Naru's bedroom floor and the cold night air was scratching her skin.

Usagi let out a sigh as she rolled onto her back and felt each part of her body ache in some way: some places were sore, others were burning, and some throbbed. She managed to get to her knees and crawl to the bed where Naru lay still. She sighed happily and brushed the hair away from her cheek to see she was breathing normally. But upon further inspection she noticed Naru wasn't as fine as she thought.

On her knees were the early signs of bruises; along her legs were red lines that reminded her of scratch marks. Her clothes were ruffled and torn in some places and she found traces of blood on her fingers. She looked at her hapless friend when something flashed through her mind to the spot she remembered Luna falling in, but there was no sign of the cat. She examined herself next, noticing the mask and the suit were gone, the lance nowhere in sight either. She scanned the room; all the signs of the battle were still there. She frowned lightly and before she heard the sound of a police siren outside and the lights of the car bathe Naru's room in red light.

"C'mon Naru we need to get up, the police are here to save us..." She said calmly as she slowly nudged her body, keeping her eyes on the doorway and grabbed Naru's shoulders. Usagi started to gently shake her as she heard a series of voices from downstairs and felt Naru stir in her arms.

"Usagi...?" Naru asked sheepishly.

Usagi winced as she felt tears swell in her eyes again. "Who were you expecting, Sailor V?" Usagi chuckled and smiled at her friend who embraced her tighter than she ever had before.

Usagi helped her unstable friend stand as the storming of feet down the hall was heard. She led Naru out into the hall as flashlights were shone in their faces and several officers rushed to them.

"Miss, is there anyone else in the house with you?" The first officer asked Naru who trembled as he tried to place a hand on her back.

"No," Usagi answered for her. "it's just us."

"Who are you, do you live here?" The same officer asked as two of his fellow officers lead Naru down the steps.

"No I'm Usagi her friend. She called me sounding totally freaked so I hurried over. There was a man..." Usagi responded slowly, the night was still a blur and it all seemed to mesh together. She could barely recall what she was doing before Naru called or what she'd done when she got here. She still didn't even know how long she'd been out of it.

"Okay we'll need you to come to the station with us to give a description and to treat your injuries." The officer said placing a hand on her back and led her down the hall and then the steps as well.

Usagi thought about all the injuries she'd sustained in just one night as she was lead out of the storefront and into the back of a squad car with Naru. She remembered the spear cutting her shoulder and her side, among other painful memories from the night.

At the police station Usagi had been separated from Naru at the entrance and lead into a cold waiting room where she'd been sitting for fifteen minutes nursing a bottle of water.

"How long do they plan on keeping me waiting?" Usagi groaned and sat up on the doctor's table to peer out of the small glass square of a window in the door. She began to tap her foot impatiently and rattle her bottle of water until the door handle jiggled slightly.

"'Bout time! I've got school tomorrow and you're killing my beauty sleep." Usagi said haughtily and patted her cheek.

"Sorry for the wait." A woman said as she walked in, closing the door behind her. She wore a pea green dress that stopped at her shins, a teal sweater with several pieces of gold jewelry. Over that was a pristine white lab coat with her name snitched over the pocket. Her hair was short with a blue hue and styled in a chic way, like she pulled it from a magazine. "My name is Saeko Mizuno, I apologize for the wait I was off duty tonight, but got called in anyway." She said it with a sigh that implied she was ticked about coming in. "I'll just be doing a routine check-up to make sure none of the injuries you sustained will cause you any further trouble."

"Err thanks." Usagi watched the doctor lay out a couple of items on a counter before sliding her thin hands into gloves. "Have we ever met before?"

"No, I don't think so. I work at the hospital nearby, so maybe you've been there and seen me?" Saeko said cheerfully.

"I haven't been there much… Something about you reminds me of someone I know…" Usagi narrowed her eyes and bit her lip. "Mizuno!"

"Yes?"

"Ami!"

"My daughter?"

"What?"

"Ami is my daughter's name." Saeko said as she adjusted her gloves and grabbed the stethoscope, placing the buds into her ears as she moved behind Usagi. "Deep breath."

"I had no idea Ami's mom was a doctor..." Usagi said quickly before taking in a breath and exhaling. Saeko nodded and moved around to Usagi's front, slowly lifting the girl's blouse to slide the cold metal against her skin. "That's cold…"

"I guess you know Ami from school? Deep breath."

"Mhm." She took in the breath and let it out like before.

"She is a friend of yours?" Saeko asked before moving back to the counter and sliding the scope around her neck before picking up a small device with a light shining at the end.

"I guess so; I wanted her to help me with studying. I'm sure we'll become friends soon." Usagi said sheepishly before remaining still as the doctor checked her ears.

"That's good to hear…" Saeko suppressed a laugh and moved back to the counter to grab a roll of gauze and a brown bottle, both of which she placed beside Usagi. "Can I have you remove your shirt so I can treat these wounds?"

Usagi complied and eased her shirt off, folding it in her lap and moving so that the doctor could examine the injuries.

"My, they're much better than I expected." Saeko said holding the unused items.

"Really?" Usagi asked curiously. She looked to her shoulder, all that remained from the slash wound was a thin line of a cut and the same applied to her side. The gash where the spear had cut her had mostly closed up. "Wow…"

"I'll clean them and wrap this one," she pointed to her side. "but I think the shoulder cut will heal shortly, no need for any extra work to be done on that." And Saeko went to work cleaning and dressing Usagi's wound before they chatted a bit more about Ami. Soon after Usagi was led out of the room and into another that was just as cold.

She sighed to herself and tapped her feet on the ground while she waited for whoever it was that was coming.

"My apologies for the wait. My name is Detective Kalla." A man came in through the door and crossed the room to sit across from Usagi. He was a young man, maybe late twenties by Usagi's calculation, who spoke with a tender voice. He wore a black shirt with buttons open near the top, exposing a bit of his chest, over that was a double breasted light grey jacket with a dull purple section that covered the right front side of his jacket that was left unbuttoned. As adjusted himself in his seat he tugged off black gloves and placed them on the table, adjusting red rimmed rectangle glasses in front of green eyes, before folding his hands on the table.

Usagi sat still and watched his movements; they all seemed practiced and perfected. The detective had pale skin, a strong jawline and a hard stare, his hair was short and brown coming down across his forehead in curled pieces. "Miss... Tsukino, can you tell me what happened?" He glanced down into his lap, but Usagi raised an eyebrow at him, not remembering seeing him with a folder or anything else when he came in.

"Well I was at home and I got a call from my friend and she told me there was a - ah…" Usagi stammered on her words and the man looked up to her curiously. "She said there was a man in her house." At this point she wasn't sure if he was a man or something else, what Tuxedo Mask told her flashed through her mind for a moment before the detective spoke up.

"And you rushed right over?"

"Right over." Usagi parroted.

"So when you got there what did you see?"

"Well Detective Kalla, when I got there I saw some guy messing around on the first floor and I chased him to the second floor then I saw the man she was talking about." Usagi shook the bottle of water in her hand.

"So there _were_ two men?"

"I guess so." She shrugged.

"But according to this your friend only mentioned there being one." Kalla looked at a pad of paper he pulled from his jacket pocket.

"So?" Usagi challenged.

"Anyway," the detective furrowed his heavy eyebrows at her. "about this burglar…"

"Who said he was a burglar?" Usagi peered at him; she had seen plenty of cop movies she knew how this worked.

"I did. After looking at the OSA-P sales and shipment records and their inventory after the break-in there were at least twelve large crystals that were stolen."

"Oh… So there was a burglar and another guy… Who were working together?" Usagi inquired.

"That's what I want you to tell me." He laced his fingers and smiled pleasantly at Usagi now that she was becoming cooperative. "Can you describe the burglar?"

"Never saw his face." Usagi made a deep frown and shook her head.

"The attacker?"

"He was super handsome! He was nice and tall, and perfect dark hair and a face to die for!" Usagi squealed and clasped her hands together. "If he hadn't broken into Naru's house and… been totally not my type… I would have given him my number." Usagi caught herself quickly. Was she really fawning over someone that attacked Naru, someone that tried to kill her? With a roll of her eyes she made a mental note she really needed better taste in guys.

Detective Kalla pinched the bridge of his nose while Usagi fanned herself. "Anything else?"

"He was _really_ tall."

"Yeah I got that the first time." The detective said, resting his chin on the palm of his hand losing interest in Usagi's new crush.

"No I mean like _real _tall. As in he probably needed to duck before leaving a room and he escaped through the window really quickly."

"So what you're telling me is that he had a big growth spurt during puberty and is light on his feet." Detective Kalla said and pushed out from the table and headed to the door. "Thanks for your cooperation…"

The question in the back of her mind was why hadn't she just told him the whole truth? She paused for a moment before realizing she really had told the truth, just not all of it anyway. Everything about the two men was right, but it was more than a break-in. But really, how does one explain transforming into a superhero in the blink of an eye?

Usagi shrugged and began to chug the rest of her water when the door flew open and in rushed her parents.

"Usagi!" They cried.

She jolted forward in her chair and coughed hard on the water "Ahh!" She flew from her seat and into their loving arms; even Shingo appeared from behind them and wrapped his arms around her while he yawned.

"We got so worried when the police called!" Ikuko said holding her daughter at arm's length to examine her. "Are you okay?" She noticed bulges on her shoulder and side.

"Yeah," she lied. "just some cuts. They'll heal in no time."

"Come on, let's go home." Kenji pressed a hand to her side and pulled her in close for a quick embrace before the four of them headed out.

"Excuse me," another young man slid into the path of the family. "she can't leave until she gives her testimony."

"I just gave it, to Detective Kalla!" Usagi whined, just wanting to go home already.

"Who?"

"Look young man, my daughter has had a rough day and she already spoke to someone so get the information you need from them!" Kenji waggled a finger in the face of the officer while Ikuko ushered her children out of the door.

"You guys haven't heard anything about Naru have you?" Usagi asked as they walked to their car.

"I saw them load her into an ambulance." Shingo said knowingly as they filed into the car.

"What?! Is she okay?" Usagi stopped and demanded an answer.

Shingo gave a big shrug and scrunched up his face "Don't know."

"What good are you?" Usagi shrieked and shoved the boy into the car before sliding in herself.

"I guess you should stop by the hospital tomorrow after school to see her then, if she's not released by then." Ikuko said.

"I'm not going to school." Usagi said evilly and withdrew a piece of paper she received from the doctor. "Doctor Mizuno said I had a slight concussion from hitting my head and that bed rest is what I need!" Usagi snickered in victory as her mother snatched the paper away, examining it. "She suggested a day off from school to be precise!"

* * *

End of Chapter Two

* * *

Next, the Dark Kingdom snuffs out a spark of rebellion and Luna reveals herself as well as Usagi's destiny, how will she take the news? A blonde heroine stands between the Dark Kingdom and their goal, is Sailor V as great as people say? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Three - Evil Sleeps When It's Dead**


	3. Evil Sleeps When It's Dead

**Cosmic Warriors  
**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, or their original owners, respectively.

**Note: **Thank you to those who've continued to review, I really appreciate it. They help me fine tune the story and I really like to hear how the changes are coming across to you readers. Keep them coming or feel free to tell me your opinions via a private message. Again, thanks to JulietShadow and SadieSwirl for being my beta readers.  
**Review Note - AM: **We'll see. I love that you put his title in quotes. xD

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE - Evil Sleeps When It's Dead**

* * *

The sun burst through Usagi's windows and her blush coloured curtains could do little to prevent that. The gleaming light would have woken the girl, had she gone to sleep the night before.

Although she didn't sleep last night, she had certainly tried. Closing her eyes for even a moment cut her off from her surroundings and sent her into the darkness, the darkness where the nightmares would reach her.

In particular her nightmare came in the form of the man from last night, the one called Diarmuid. His handsome features, cat-like eyes, dry and savage voice, all of it flooded her senses the moment she closed her eyes. If stayed for too long in the darkness, the feeling that his eyes were on her shook her out of it. The feeling of death that he carried threatened her when she attempted to rest her weary body.

She'd never been so scared in her life, she'd seen horror movies and been told ghost stories before, even been left home alone during a storm. The obvious explanation for this new found terror was that, this was real. This wasn't a monster with claws, fangs, and wings or a ghost rumored to snatch up children in the night. Or even a streak of lightning followed by a rolling wave of thunder. It was a man.

Usagi opened her heavy eyelids and cast her eyes at the ceiling, the phones in the house just stopped ringing. It had been ringing for a while now, on and off. She assumed someone would answer it eventually, but after the third time it went off she hoped whoever was calling would get the message.

Slowing she closed her eyes and felt herself relax a bit in bed until the phone rang out through the house again.

"I guess I had to get up sometime." Usagi said and swung her legs out of bed, resting her elbows on her knees rubbing her face.

She thought about the previous night, images of the man jabbing at her came to her mind. She glanced slowly to the side, the silver bracelet was still on her wrist and the crescent moon charm was dangling just as it had last night, she grimaced at it.

Gently she forced herself to stand before she waddled into the hallway, to her right was a small stand with a purple phone resting on it. As she forced herself over to grab it, the phone the ringing abruptly stopped.

"Really?" She deadpanned at the phone before the feeling several parts of her body ache forced her to collapse against the wall.

"Oww..." Usagi groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to overcome the pain as she pushed off the wall.

Her stomach grumbled as she made it down the hall and took the steps to the first floor as slow as possible. As she reached the bottom she heard the rapid flipping of pages coming from the dining room.

"Dad?" She hobbled into the room to see Shingo with a mess of news pages scattered around dining room table. "Shingo! What are you doing to dad's paper?"

"What's it to you? Not like you're gonna read it, stupid." Shingo sneered, stuck out his tongue and ran a finger along the page.

Usagi's jaw dropped and she narrowed her eyes at him. "You little brat!" If her shoulder hadn't been killing her she might have slapped the crude smirk off his face. Instead she opted to hobble into the kitchen where she whispered out a string of obscenities at the refrigerator.

"Why are you reading the paper anyway?" She asked before grabbing some bread and slipping it into the toaster before grabbing a glass.

"I'm reading about the break-ins from last night, they're all over the front page!" As she filled up the glass with water through the window Usagi saw him hold up the front page that had a split picture of twenty different buildings on it.

"What does it say?" She asked and squinted to even read the headline as she tipped the glass back.

"There were twenty places broken into last night; they think it's some kind of crime group, like the Yakuza." She choked on her drink and started coughing as Shingo read.

"Tw – twenty!"

"Yeah there's a list, a bunch of homes. OSA-P is the only store though." Shingo added flipping through the pages. Usagi slammed her drink down and rushed out to tear the page from his hands.

She wondered if he was telling the truth or just messing with her, but sure enough on the front page was the headline that confirmed it.

"Hey, give it back!" Shingo screamed, groping for the paper but was thwarted when she slapped a hand onto his forehead, forcing him to stay in his seat while she read.

"Yadda yadda… Twenty homes… Within a three hour time frame, believed to be done by individuals with similar motives and styles… Leads police to be believe it was an organized crime…" Usagi loosened her grip on the page and Shingo snatched it away with ease.

He then shook the papers, trying to get them to stop bending. "Geez freak, I would have just told you what it said." he grumbled.

Usagi waddled back into the kitchen where she contemplated the other attacks. Could they really have been done by a group of criminals? What would be the point of breaking into homes and just one business? After fixing her toast with butter and cinnamon Usagi limped back to her room, and upon the bed she spotted a black cat resting there.

"Luna!" She shouted between a bite and rushed, the best she could, over to the cat. "How do you keep finding me stupid kitty? Are you okay?"

"It's nice to see you again as well, Usagi."

"D – Did you just talk to me?!" Usagi's eyes opened wide and she quickly fell back onto the floor.

"I did, but I suggest you not be so loud about it." Luna leapt from the bed, past Usagi, and to the door that she closed by bumping into it. "We have much to discuss and I don't need other people around while we talk."

"Heh. The doctor must have given me some pills or something... Because this is a crazy dream…" Usagi crawled into bed and curled into the fetal position.

"This is no dream." Luna said leaping from the floor and landing beside Usagi. "My name, as you know, is Luna and I was a servant during the time of the Silver Millennium."

"This can't be real, what's the Silver Millennium? Luna how come you're talking?" Usagi asked as she rolled over to stare into Luna's scarlet eyes.

"If you let me explain then perhaps you'll have an easier time believing me. The Silver Millennium was ruled by Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom and -"

"Moon Kingdom?"

"This will go faster if you hold your questions until the end…" Luna said with a hiss and Usagi pursed her lips. The cat let out a sort of sigh before before sitting. "I suppose I'll start with the man from last night, that should make you believe me. He was a monster called an Experiment created and controlled by what you can call the Dark Kingdom. We are unsure how they are created, only that the Dark Kingdom has a method of making them in high quantities. For now their goal appears to be to obtain energy from human beings here on Earth."

"We?" Usagi asked without thinking and saw the cat's expression shift to annoyance.

"We, being my partners in this the Silver Guard." Luna answered.

"And the Silver Guard is what exactly…?"

"I told you to hold your questions!"

"I'm sorry!" She whined.

"The Silver Guard is here to stop the Dark Kingdom from gathering energy, or when it comes down to it, stopping them from reviving their leader, a malicious force who wishes to rule the world."

"And that's bad right?"

"Very bad. I won't get too much into it at the moment but in the past thousand years the Dark Kingdom has grown. We've learned that their time in Japan has stretched further than expected, meaning they've been skulking around for a while. Also their numbers have increased; it seems there was a string of abductions of scientists in the late 1980's that continued until just recently, which can be connected to the Dark Kingdom. It's safe to assume they were abducted and made to work for them. This would explain the appearance of their Experiments in recent years." Luna explained with a bit of sorrow in her voice. "If the Dark Kingdom manages to succeed in their plan to gather energy and wake up their ruler, then Earth can say goodbye to life as you know it"

"Life as I know it…" She looked down at the bedding; Luna was beginning to sound like she was describing a movie plot. Could something like that really happen in real life? "Have they ever taken over before, on Earth?"

"No, but they destroyed your home, the Moon Kingdom." Luna looked away and flicked the tip of her tail.

"This is my home." She reminded.

"Usagi! Are you listening at all? The Moon Kingdom, Silver Millennium, does none of this sound familiar to you?"

"It sounds unreal, which is why I must be dreaming." Usagi said, throwing her arms out and shrugging, willing to accept this crazy dream. Her irritation growing, Luna leapt at Usagi's hand, biting down on one of her fingers, causing the girl to yelp.

"This is _not _a dream! After what happened last night how can you deny that this is real?!"

She held her wrist out and letting the moon charm hang. "Last night..."

"I awakened the Warrior within you." Luna smiled; at least it looked like she did. "I can see you don't really believe me Usagi, but this should be all the proof you need." Luna swatted at the charm like a toy. Usagi turned her hand over and held the charm; it felt just as cold as it had last night.

"These wounds are pretty good reminder too." She smiled, weakly shrugging her shoulder. The charm was all the proof she needed to be sure this was real, although she couldn't fathom it, it had all happened.

"I apologize for not being able to do more to help you, I guess I expected for something within you to take over and you'd be able to take care of the Experiment on your own." Luna said with some doubt.

"So… Now what?" Usagi asked loudly as she pat tapped her fingers on the bed.

"Now we work on making you stronger so you can fight, and we work on finding the other warriors! And most importantly we find the Moon Princess." Luna said, standing up.

"Whoa. What? I never said I was going to help you!" Usagi shot up in bed, giving Luna a challenging look.

"Usagi!"

"What? I didn't ask to be a warrior or whoever; I don't even know what it is really! And I'm not trying to run around in that suit that is like thick spandex!" She whined.

"It's your destiny Usagi!"

"A magical black cat shows up, transforms me into some sword-wielding spandex wearing superhero and expects me to go along with it?" She asked slowly, wanting Luna to hear her point. "Does that sound fair to you? And my destiny? Luna, you don't know me!"

That was the last thing she said to Luna before she shoved the cat out of her way and stormed out through the house. She kept her hands into her pockets, not wanting to catch a glimpse of the moon charm while she walked. She'd tried to take it off, but there was no latch and it seemed to fit snugly on her wrist.

"Who does she think she is? My destiny, as if." She rolled her eyes, feeling confident in her choice to leave as she turned up the street towards the Game Center Crown. "I don't want to be like Sailor V, I just want to play her games..."

* * *

The sound of gunshots rang out through a room on the lower level of a dorm building followed by feminine screams and an occasional explosion. Mamoru along with Motoki had turned a day of cancelled classes into a movie day in the lounge at their university.

"Get him!" Motoki hollered as he watched a monster dripping in black goo reach out to attack a man dressed in a futuristic space suit. He glanced to Mamoru who was barely paying attention with a pained look on his face. "Everything okay?"

"Hm?" Mamoru looked to him with wide eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Well pay attention! It's not every day our professors cancel their classes, we need to enjoy this." Motoki leaned over and shoved Mamoru, his friend cried out in pain as he rolled onto his side. "Whoa Mamo, you sure you're okay?"

Mamoru groaned and clutched his stomach as he struggled to sit up straight again.

"Here…" Reluctantly Motoki grabbed his friend's arm and shoulder, slowly pulling him back up to rest back against the couch. "You sore or something?"

"Yeah sore…" He grunted.

"Hey whoa, is - is that blood?" Motoki put his finger dangerously close to a dark spot on Mamoru's green Earth shirt.

"I think I spilled something on it." Mamoru said shifting to try and hide it, but fell back on the couch when Motoki pressed on his shoulder. His friend stared at him in disbelief before lifting up the shirt and seeing a pack of bandages on his abdomen that had been soaked through with blood.

"Mamo!" Motoki picked at a strip of tape and pulled the bandages free, looking into the wound underneath.

"Stop," he growled, trying to knock his hands away. "It's nothing."

"It's an open wound." Motoki corrected, feeling a bit light headed, and Mamoru pushed his hands away and grunted as he placed the bandage back over it.

"I need to get going." He said, forcing himself up and cupping the wound as he hobbled from the lounge.

"Mamo…"

* * *

Inside the arcade Usagi found a line of kids waiting outside the virtual reality Sailor Game. Not in any mood to stand around with children, Usagi opted for one of her favorites, the classic arcade version of Sailor V.

"Shoot!" Usagi whined as she fell limp against the game. She rested her head on the board ahead of her, between the buttons and the joystick, and sighed, she'd spent at least ten bucks trying to get past level four. Her head just wasn't in it today.

As she fluttered her eyes closed images of the women in gowns and armor flashed through her mind again, forcing her eyes wide open.

With a sigh she hoisted herself off the stool and made her way back through the arcade. She listened to the familiar sounds of button mashing and rings that came from the machines, but none of it made her feel any different. She felt empty, or like she needed to be somewhere, doing something else.

Without paying attention she collided with someone who was attached to the grabber machine.

"Oh, sorry!" She called out as she spun around and continued to walk away. It was Game Machine Joe, hunched over the crane game and operating it like a professional. Upon seeing his eyes she instantly felt a chill shoot down her spine as she fell back through the exit door.

The heat of the late summer air was refreshing after being in the arcade for a bit; she spun around and took in a deep breath of it before spotting something at her feet.

"Mroow."

"Luna…"

Usagi stared defiantly down at the black cat that was tilting her head from side to side and smacking the ground with her tail. With a sigh she scooped the cat up and rushed across the street, wary of cars, before reaching a side that wasn't as crowded.

"Can you stop following me Luna?" She asked, glancing around as she heard herself being louder than she imagined. "How did you know where I'd be anyway?" She started walking with her down the sidewalk, trying to steer clear of groups of people.

"I'm afraid that's not possible, I must keep an eye on you. Also you're very predictable." Luna answered, crawling from her arms and onto her shoulder. "As I said you're a Cosmic Warrior now, and you have responsibilities. Spending the day at the arcade is not one of them."

"Cosmic Warrior?"

"It's a collective title for the warriors of the cosmos. You are one of them, Warrior Moon!"

"I told you I'm not going to be a warrior, I just want to be normal."

"You don't have a choice!" Luna shrieked and smacked Usagi in the back of the head with her tail.

"That's not fair!" She whined as they turned another corner and saw the OSA-P jewelry store, littered around it were various officers and the building itself had police tape covering it. Looking up Usagi could see the broken window and felt another chill run down her spine thinking about last night.

"Things like that will continue to happen if you don't follow this through Usagi." Luna reminded her.

"Why is this happening to me?"

"Honestly Usagi, Naru was attacked last night and you can't think of anyone but yourself."

"But she's safe now and doesn't have to worry about anything. I've got a talking cat telling me I have to fight." She whined and walked down around the corner. "You don't know what it's like Luna to be normal and have something crazy like last night happen. I can't really focus on anything and I feel strange, and now you're telling me all this stuff… I just want to be normal!" She wasn't sure how many times now she had either told Luna that, or said it to herself in thought.

"I may not understand what your definition of _normal_ is, but I know what it feels like to have your world to change and everything to come crashing down around you." Luna said urgently. "The Moon Kingdom was a beautiful place until it was attacked and everything was destroyed by _them_. The Queen made the greatest sacrifice to save her people!"

Usagi looked to the side at her, listening intently to each of her words now.

"It pains me to see her sacrifice go in vain because a selfish fourteen year old refuses to honor her destiny!" Luna dug her nails into Usagi's shoulder before leaping off onto the ground. Usagi flinched and spun around to watch Luna run back the way they came.

"Luna!"

* * *

It was a dark cavern, stones were covering the floors and stone were the walls and the shrouded ceilings. Gloom was a permanent occurrence due to the lack of sunlight that breached the walls. Any cracks in the walls let in cold streams of biting wind and slivers of light.

In the core of the cavern, at the heart of darkness, stone pillars rose from the ground and continued on past into the darkness that covered the ceiling. In the wide open space was a throne that seemed to be one with the ground. Ahead of the throne were a small series of steps that led to the floor where a horde of monsters and reincarnated heroes were gathered as an audience for their ruler.

Queen Beryl sat in her throne and watched Jadeite pace back and forth across cold stone floor. Between her constantly moving hands was a dark orb that she often gazed into, but Jadeite's nervous stride was the only thing worth watching at the moment.

"How much longer do you expect me to wait on them?" She requested impatiently.

"They should be here soon my Queen." Jadeite stopped in his tracks. "I informed them their presence was required here after their mission."

"Were these Experiments not created with recall gems?"

"They were," Jadeite quipped and fished the gems in question out of his pocket. "but I wanted to keep them in case of needing them back for an emergency."

"You think making me wait for these failures is not an emergency?" Beryl asked with hooded eyes.

"Of course my Queen." Jadeite opened his hand to look at the four purple gems before he crushed them. He quickly turned and threw the dust into the air and it instantly swirled into the figures of four identical men, all dressed in grey jumpsuits with black boots and gloves.

"Is this it?" Beryl asked, outright unimpressed. She dropped her hands into her lap, the orb attached to a staff with a claw like top lowered in the air as well.

"I sent out twenty, but some were taken down by the police or captured. I disposed of any that were not able to return to me by this morning." Jadeite said giving the remaining quartet a glare.

"Disposed of?" Beryl asked, becoming somewhat interested.

"When experiments are created there are four gems that come with them. The first is the gem they sleep in, the second is their activation gem that when broken awakens them. The third is their recall gem that brings them to the location of the gem being destroyed. And lastly is their life gem that when destroyed kills them almost instantly."

"Life gem. Interesting." Beryl said while she watched one of the Experiments sneer at Jadeite.

"I'm not willing to risk them being captured, so I will dispose of any that fail me." Jadeite said smugly. "I crushed the other sixteen of them a few hours ago, to be sure even the ones the police encountered wouldn't survive."

"What a pity." Beryl said dryly.

"There are forty more of them my Queen; I have no problem disposing of them for our greater good." From his pocket he pulled his hand free and held it out to her, a swirling blue mass forming in it a moment later. "Regardless of their failures, we managed to get our prize. Last night's energy." He presented.

Beryl's eyes lit up as she sat forward in her throne, taking in the mass of it all. She outstretched a hand and the moving collection floated between them before ascending into the shroud on the ceiling. Once it was out of sight something above them all stirred and a faint purple glow could be seen attempting to pierce the veil.

"You're disgusting to me." From behind Jadeite one of the Experiments stepped out of line towards him.

"Oh?" Beryl asked and sat back in her throne, touching her finger tips together, and Jadeite gave him a look over his shoulder.

"Reviving us and then tossing us away like we're worthless!"

"Fall back into line Experiment-D-U-D." Jadeite never bothered to turn to fully face the man, only commanding him as he folded his hands back behind him.

"Never! Never again will I listen to you!" From behind his back Diarmuid gripped his spear and tore the cloth off the tip before moving to jab Jadeite with it. Jadeite turned his head to sneer at him before the clone was stopped in mid-strike.

Jadeite held a hand out to the clone that seemed to make him freeze in time as a hole in the ground beneath him opened.

"Never again will you raise your lance to me." Dropping his hand the Experiment too dropped, down into the hole that had opened and out of sight into the darkness below. Beryl watched curiously until Jadeite commanded the other clones in line down the hole.

"Kill him."

With that the three remaining clones leapt down into the hole with golden spears clenched in their hands.

As the last clone disappeared from sight Jadeite waved a hand over the hole and it closed up, reforming into the stable stone ground. "That must have been the first clone created…"

"What makes you say that?" Beryl asked, keeping an eye on the floor.

"To create these Experiments we searched the earth for traces of their DNA, using that our scientists were able to remake their bodies. We noticed they tend to retain some of their original emotions when they are created. Each clone created knows what each of the other clones experiences and has the same personality and memory; however, as more are made they are less likely to act upon it."

"It must have taken you quite a while to find DNA for these former heroes."

Jadeite smiled, it had been a painstaking effort. In a world filled with myths and fables they often came to a dead end when trying to track down the resting place of beings of mythology.

"It was worth it my Queen. They possess extraordinary abilities, the likes of which this world has never known. This Experiment in particular was once a proud knight, with weapons capable of piercing an defense and creating wounds that cannot be healed naturally. Because of his history it's to be expected he wouldn't like the idea of being someone's pawn." Jadeite eyed a gem in his hand before closing his fingers around it gently. "Unfortunately for him, in a world of darkness, a knight's shine means nothing."

"Jadeite." Beryl said ardently while looking deep into the orb again. "I see Sailor V is still alive. Why?"

"To my knowledge Sailor V wasn't around to handle the attacks from last night, I only witnessed police officers involved."

"So your plan to lure out Sailor V was a failure." Beryl reminded.

"Yes my Queen," he admitted. "however with the remaining clones I have devised another plan. I'm dispatching them into local schools to find her."

"Schools? You believe Sailor V is a child?

"Our scientists have been able to narrow down her age based on her appearance and strands of her hair left behind at various scenes. They've concluded she must be in her early teenage years."

"Oh? So which schools?"

"Juuban Municipal Junior High School, T.A. Academy for Girls, and Shiba Koen."

"That's very specific."

"Those schools are all within range of her usual sites, I believe those would be our best guesses." Jadeite answered, confident with his plan.

"You said the scientists create Experiments using DNA correct?" Beryl inquired with a smile to which Jadeite nodded. "So am I correct in assuming making a Sailor V Experiment would be possible?"

Jadeite paused for a moment; never had the idea occurred to him. "It is possible my Queen, but how may I ask would that help us?"

"Honestly Jadeite, think about it. Not only would we have her identity, but we can use the Experiment to our advantage by making it act on our behalf and soil Sailor V's name. This will draw the true Sailor V out of hiding." Beryl said, running hands over the orb as it rotated at an accelerated pace.

"I see, I shall see if there is enough of her DNA left to create an Experiment of her my Queen." Jadeite bowed before his body sank down into the stone floor that engulfed him like a liquid. As Jadeite slowly fell he was surrounded by a frigid darkness before the remains of a dimly lit coliseum appeared below him. In it, three of the Experiments were circling the first.

"Is your goal so important?" Diarmuid shouted to Jadeite after noticing the man.

Jadeite turned his attention to the one who spoke to him, both spears clutched in his hands ready for war. "Is your pride so important?" Jadeite asked as he touched down, a few yards away from the four.

"I was never told what the goal was; only what I was needed for… You want energy for her so badly?" Diarmiud questioned and looked to the ceiling. "You wanted it bad enough to soil my name, pride, and honor: everything that meant the world to me as a knight?"

"None of that matters anymore." Jadeite replied turning from him. "You were revived to work for us; your previous life is of no importance here."

"Unacceptable… I cannot accept this fate, as a pawn!" He went to lunge forward, only for two of the clones to stab their spears into the ground and block his path. How can you?" He asked, looking to each of the replicas that all stood stoically. "How can you follow _them_ like this?"

"They follow my command because they were designed to." Jadeite said, turning to glance back at him. "You were the first of your kind and therefore the closest in mind to your former life. I do not fault you for your feelings; however, I cannot let you act on them."

"Bastard." Diarmuid stepped back before hurling his crimson spear towards Jadeite so fast neither of the clones was fast enough to block the weapon as it tore past them.

"Fool." Jadeite turned and held up a hand. a thin dark layer of energy quickly formed ahead of him. He watched with amusement as the spear came in closer, but his eyes soon widened as it passed through the barrier and sliced into his shoulder. He yelped as blood shot from the cut and clutched his shoulder as he looked back to the spear that was still flying away.

"Perhaps you should have done more research about who you revived!" Diarmuid bellowed and stuck a hand out and recalled the spear. In his peripheral he saw himself flying down towards him with a small blade clutched in his hand. Instinctively he leapt back as the clone slammed the blade down in his previous spot.

"You will all fall…" He growled and threw a hand out, his crimson spear slicing through Jadeite's leg before flying back into his hand. Listening to Jadeite's cry Diarmuid quickly spun it around and deflected the first blow that came to him from the nearest clone.

"That spear…" Jadeite coughed; trying to clench both wounds he collapsed face first into the ground. He watched as all three Experiments lunged towards their rebellious clone. "Kill him!"

Diarmuid clutched his spears and lowered himself down into a battle stance as his clones did the same, each of them wielding two swords rather than spears. Diarmuid lunged at them first, parrying two blows from the side before slamming his feet into the chest of the one ahead of him. Knocking him away he rebounded and slashed to his right, managing to nick one on his chest before feeling a blade stick into his side.

He whipped around to cut his attacker but missed as he flipped backwards. Diarmuid chased after him and saw the first clone lunging for him with his long sword gripped in his hands. He quickly jammed his spear into the ground and threw himself into the air, able to see each of the three below meeting together in his previous spot.

After a quick scan of the area he caught sight of Jadeite limping away towards the exit and stuck his hand out to recall the crimson spear from below. Seeing his replicas leaping up towards him he quickly hurled the spear down towards Jadeite.

"You shall fall hardest." He whispered as the lance whistled through the air before piercing Jadeite's leg, sending the man tumbling over as the spear dug into the ground and kept the leg in place. He heard Jadeite's cry of pain as the clones emerged around him, unsure which to counter he simply tucked his limbs in and braced for their assault.

A flash of a bright white sensation ran through him as he felt something strike his head. He tensed up as the pain radiated through him before feeling a blow of equal force to his stomach and finally a heavy leg brought down onto his protected chest that sent him crashing down to the floor below.

As the pain racked his body he staggered to his feet and felt a hand grip him around his throat. He glared down to one of them that began choke him, a devilish grin appearing on his face as he watched the other two fall down behind him. Waggling his fingers Diarmuid called back his spear that appeared as a flash of red and stuck itself inside the torso of the closest clone.

He collapsed on the ground, choking before coming to his feet and seeing the other two race towards him. In the corner of his eye he saw Jadeite clutching his leg, trying to hobble away.

He swayed on his feet and spun his golden spear before hurling it out between the two approaching replicas causing their focus to break. As they watched the golden blur fly between them Diarmuid quickly called it back, catching it and charging for them before they saw him coming, he raised the spear high as he leapt up before feeling something break within him.

_Crunch. _Jadeite crushed a small gem until it was nothing but dust in his hand. He watched the body of the flying Experiment lose all momentum and crash against the coliseum ground and skid to a stop. He himself collapsed on the ground with a hard chortle and let the dust float away. Jadeite turned his head again to look at the fallen clone who was struggling to stand tall.

Diarmuid groaned and clutched his chest while he gasped for air, feeling his lungs burn and a sharp pain in his intestines that sent blood up into his mouth. Rolling over and slamming his knuckles into the ground he forced himself to his knees. As he struggled to find air, the blood began dripping from his lips and above him on the ground he saw dim shadows coming towards him. Diarmuid flipped over and threw his spear up to throw one off course before calling his crimson spear back which slammed into one and caused him to knock the other out of the air.

"Pathetic…" Jadeite spat out blood as he struggled to stand. "Why are they so weak against him? He's a dying man! Kill him!" He yelped as he felt a sharp pain in his chest, he doubled over coughing into his hand a mouthful of blood.

"I was the first of this kind of Experiment, so I am closest to my former self. So did you ever stop to think I would be the strongest?" Diarmuid choked and struggled to his feet as a chunk of his abdomen darkened before breaking off and floating away as dark particles and recalled his weapons. "Perhaps after losing their honor as knights, the blades of these toys of yours have dulled!"

The clones staggered to their feet as well and spun their spears around hurling them at Diarmuid, who jabbed his own into the ground to propel himself into the air. As he watched the three golden spears fly past he saw the replicas race in together towards his own lance. Feeling the burning in his side vanish he noticed more of his body falling apart and he threw his hand out and recalled his own spear as he fell.

"Die!" Hitting the ground he pulled back on the spear and hurled it outwards to Jadeite. The fallen Shitennou raised a bloodied hand up as a dark barrier formed around him and as the spear met it sizzled and crackled, releasing spurts of dark lightning.

"No!" Diarmuid called as he watched the spear begin to dissolve into golden dust.

"Heh - I admit, although I knew the powers of your spears I forgot which one did which. Your crimson spear is capable of bypassing any defense, however your golden one cannot!" Jadeite dropped his hand and the barrier faded, golden dust flittering around him.

Diarmuid gritted his teeth as he called forth his last spear ready to throw it out but paused as he watched his clones come in closer, holding their hands near his body. His eyes shot opened realizing how close they had gotten before feeling three shooting stings of pain in three points.

The replicas ahead of him clutched the tips of their bloodied golden spears with traces of flesh on them, which had come to them through Diarmuid's body. He struggled to move and simply quivered as blood leaked down from his mouth, the bitter smell of gore burning his bloodshot eyes.

"No…" In his blurred vision he saw Jadeite rise to his feet and sway as he watched the scene, his weapon slipping from his grasp and shattering into a mound of crimson dust. One by one each of the clones yanked their lances free from his body, the blood gushing out and splattering across their hard faces and spraying into their eyes before they headed back to Jadeite.

Diarmuid collapsed onto the ground in an increasing pool of blood and coughed trying to keep himself alive as he felt his body falling apart, chunks of his flesh falling off and breaking down into strands of dust.

As his lids became too heavy to keep open his mind drifted to a woman's face, with wavy rich reddish-brown hair and soft eyes, the woman he loved so long ago and the same woman he saw again just yesterday in the city.

* * *

End of Chapter Three

* * *

Next, the unforgivable truth behind Naru's attack is revealed and Usagi makes the choice of a lifetime. Minako Aino and a white haired boy named Artemis appear, is he really her pet cat, and what are their plans? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Four - Crossing The Rubicon**


	4. Crossing The Rubicon

**Cosmic Warriors  
**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, or their original owners, respectively.

**Note: **A few things before we begin. First, we got a cover image! I doodled the idea for it in class once, and finally was able to make it over the weekend. Next, my friend DonovanX (off-site user), who I used to bounce ideas off of, is creating a TVTropes page for Cosmic Warriors. I didn't know what that was at first, but after some careful googling, I now know and am looking forward to it! Lastly, this chapter was step one on my list of things to do to make this a darker story, I hope you can respect the _situation_. As always thanks to JulietShadow and SadieSwirl for being my beta readers and to you guys for your feedback!

**Review Note - AM: **Thanks for the review and for catching those mistakes, after reading it so many times I just miss some things, I appreciate you pointing them out.

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR - Crossing The Rubicon**

* * *

The thought of facing a school day without Naru to keep her company made Usagi gloomy all the way to the dreaded building in question. It had been Naru's mother calling her constantly yesterday. When she finally got her on the phone the woman sounded distraught and explained Naru would be taking a week or so off of school. Although she wanted Naru to be here with her, she understood why she'd be taking the break and wondered if she herself should have stayed home.

"U-sa-gi!" As she begrudgingly made her way up the stairs, at the top stood Umino, who had sung her name and was waving frantically to get her attention. "Usagi, so I heard you went to Naru's place the other day and that you fought the attacker! Do you know why she was attacked? Were you scared? What was it like? I heard you got shot. Why are you glaring at me like that?"

"Shut up Umino! Just shut up for once!" Usagi screamed, her temper skyrocketing. "Stop popping up everywhere, and stop asking me questions I can't answer!"

"Why can't you answer them? Are you working with the police?" Umino continued to pester her even after she tried running down the hall to escape him.

Usagi rounded the corner and down the rest of the hall until she reached her classroom, sliding inside she slammed the door shut and locked it on her pursuer.

"You can't keep me out Usagi, this is my classroom too and I have a right to an education." Umino reminded through the wood, tapping against the door gently. Usagi slammed her back against the door and groaned, her classmates observing her closely.

"Usagi, don't be such a bitch." One of the boys said as he moved towards the door and shoved her out of the way.

"A bi-?" Usagi opened her eyes wide as he unlocked the door and let Umino in.

"Don't worry about her dude." He assured.

"Just because Naru isn't here doesn't mean you get to act however you want, dumpling head!" Another boy said coming in behind Umino.

"What does that even mean?" Usagi snapped as she moved towards her seat. "Move it loser!" Usagi screamed trying to shove a stout student out of her way before squeezing past him.

"This just isn't your day, huh?" From the window she heard Ami asked.

"Oh Ami!" Usagi called out and opened her eyes wide, elated to see her friend. She instantly rushed the girl, collapsing onto her and bear hugging the girl. "It's so tough not having Naru here, I haven't even talked to her since the other day and Umino – Umino is so annoying without backup to deal with him!" she cried.

"Everything will be fine Usagi..." Ami chuckled. "How have you been, I haven't talked to you since before…"

"I'm fine." Usagi muttered, not wanting to talk about it much.

"That's good. But I still can't believe something like that happened around here, the odds were so slim... Well, at least no one was hurt right?" Ami offered as Usagi straightened up. Maybe that was true. She hadn't heard anything about Naru from the police, and Shingo wasn't lying when he said he didn't know why he was in the ambulance. Even Mayumi neglected to mention if her daughter was okay.

Usagi forced a smiled through the ever present throb her wounds gave her, even though they were healing fast.

"Have you heard anything about Naru, do you know how long she'll be out of school?" Ami asked in a whisper as she slid into her seat as she watched their teacher walk in.

"No, but I'm heading to the hospital after school to check on her."

"Could you tell her I said hi please? I would go, but with cram school it's tough to find time." She said regretfully.

"Can do." Usagi held a thumb up to her and watched Umino and Yuuji walk by.

"Umino come to the House of Fortune with us after school! It'll be fun!" Usagi heard one of the boy's say as she turned her attention to the window. "It'll get your mind off _her_." Yuuji sneered back to Usagi to which she rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"Maybe while he's there the fortune teller will tell him he's destined to live by himself. Maybe he'll finally get a clue and leave me alone." Usagi said to herself in a whisper before she snickered and pondered for most of the class period what a world without Umino would be like.

* * *

In another school across town, a lithe blonde girl made her way down the halls and caught the eyes of boys and girls that were standing around during their lunch period.

"She's so pretty…" She heard one girl say.

She smiled in that direction and listened to a group of guys standing at their lockers whisper something about the way her skirt moved.

"I heard she knows Sailor V..." One girl said to another.

"No one knows Sailor V." Her friend replied incredulously.

"Minako does."

Minako Aino flipped a lock of her golden hair playfully before she descended the steps to the first floor. After blowing a kiss to a friend she skipped out the front door and down the sidewalk towards their tennis courts.

As the amount of students nearby lessened she put a stop to her skipping and whipped out a small black device that she figured was small enough to conceal inside a hotdog bun. The person she got it from called it a cellular phone. She'd never seen one before and was told not to use it in public spaces, which, in her mind, ruined the point of having a portable phone.

Slipping into the school's tennis court she dropped a sports bag she was carrying and dialed a number quickly, securing the phone between her shoulder and ear. She hummed to herself while she listened to the ringing and fidgeted with the ropes for the tennis net, raising them up to better suit her needs as volleyball net. She returned to her bag as the line picked up and a lazy voice came through.

"Hello?"

"I'm alone now; you can come out to play." She said with a smile as she fished a dirty volleyball from the bag.

"You know I don't like sports Minako…"

Minako ended the call and dropped the phone into her bag as she turned her head off to the left; the figure of a boy came into view. Coming from the front of the school he was walking towards the courts with a slow strut.

From the distance she could tell he was wearing a loose cream coloured dress shirt and white slacks, on his feet were pale yellow deck shoes. As he came in closer she couldn't take her eyes off the most striking thing about him, his white hair. It was short on all sides, but had spiked bangs that seemed to stay aloft perfectly.

"Just for a little bit, Artemis." She winked at him as he entered the court and made his way under the net.

"Everything alright around here?" Artemis asked as Minako served the ball and sent it over the net in an arc. Popping up onto his toes he knocked the ball back over to her.

"Yup, anything new on your end?" She asked as she hit the ball back over, sending Artemis to the back of the court.

"Luna found a Cosmic Warrior." He answered, knocking the ball back over again.

"She awakened her." Minako assumed and hit the ball again.

"Why wouldn't she?" Artemis asked before he jumped to send the ball back over. He could hear the disdain in Minako's voice.

"No – I get it, I mean..." She frowned before she spiked the ball down to Artemis who flinched to avoid being hit. "I just wanted to be the only heroine in the city for a bit longer." She shrugged and watched the ball roll off.

"You don't want to share the spotlight?" Artemis asked before he chased after the ball.

"Exactly!" She breathed dramatically, clinging to the net, her pouting lips poking out the other side "I was here first."

"Be serious Minako, you know how serious this all is." He said coming back with the ball and ducking under the net. "Now onto business, did you look into the construction site like I asked?"

"Yes..." She frowned watching him stuff the ball back into her bag. "I went the other day after school; everyone was too busy to talk to me though."

"What makes you think that?" Artemis asked and handed off the bag as they headed out of the court.

"'Cause this rude supervisor said so!" She shrieked. "He was all like 'No one here has time for you little girl, run along'. Puh-leeez."

Artemis snickered as she puffed out her chest and dropped her voice to mimic the man.

"So, you got nothing?"

"Actually, I got a lot. That man, he's definitely from the Dark Kingdom." Minako quipped with a snap of her fingers.

"Oh?"

Minako was the type to go off her instincts, it had gotten them in trouble a few times, but she was rarely wrong.

"After he told me to leave, _obviously _I stayed and snuck into the zone. I found this makeshift office building and inside was a bunch of the construction workers sitting on the floor staring this giant clock he was holding."

"What was it a special clock?" Artemis asked dryly.

"More like evil, it sucked out their energy." Artemis gave Minako his full attention and she simply nodded. "I watched them getting tired and weaker and when they left the office they looked like they were ready to drop and another group of workers went in after them."

"Maybe that was your imagination." He offered.

"Artemis." She said and gave him a 'you know better' look.

"Alright, good work kid, when are you going to...?" Artemis asked as they stepped off to the side from the sidewalk into a small garden area surrounded by trees.

"I'll take action tomorrow." Minako assured him as she unzipped her bag and held it open to him.

"See you later then." Artemis smiled as he placed a hand into the bag, his body glowing pure white a moment later. A small smile played across Minako's lip as the weight of her bag increased.

She kept her eyes peeled for anyone who was coming around as something within the bag stirred around before a cat with ivory fur leapt from within.

"Bye kitty." Minako blew a kiss to the cat as he scurried off down the sidewalk and she stuffed the discarded clothes down into the bag to close it.

* * *

Usagi eased down on the roof of the school after making it through half of the day. With a bento box in hand, she leaned forward against the metal railing bars. A sigh escaped her lips before she gathered a chunk of rice with her chopsticks. She deposited the food into her mouth and chewed slowly, staring off into the horizon blankly.

The morning had been a blur to Usagi; just like yesterday at the arcade, nothing seemed quite as important anymore. The constant thought about the story Luna had told her was on her mind, along with the man she fought and how Naru was doing.

She continued to think about how it felt to stab someone, the weight she felt on the blade and how weak she felt seeing blood like that. On her mind was also the feeling of the suit hugging her body and how different she felt looking out through the mask.

As she sat she felt eyes on her, it caused her to shiver before she decided to confront it.

"How long do you plan on spying on me creep?" Usagi spun around, ready to hurl her only weapon, her lunch, at whoever was standing behind her. She stopped once she noticed it was only Luna, sitting innocently a few feet away.

"I'm surprised you knew I was here." The cat purred.

"Well, I expected to see you around here sooner or later." Usagi hissed and dug her sticks back into her bento, thankful she didn't have to sacrifice eating.

"I'll ignore that comment, for now." Luna said and flicked her tail against the rooftop. "Usagi, if you're not busy would you like to talk some more about your past and what it means to be a Cosmic Warrior?"

"No need, like I said I'm not going to become a warrior, so talking is pointless. Don't you think?" Usagi said while she tried to look too busy eating to give Luna her full attention. "Everyone seems to believe it really was just a series of break-ins and that's not far from the truth, so it seems like everything is fine. Plus no one saw me in that suit so…" She trailed off, sticking another clump of rice into her mouth.

"Someone did see you in that suit Usagi." Luna said and stood still, watching the girl a little displeased with her behavior.

"Yeah you did, but you're not gonna do anything about it." She rolled her eyes and swallowed.

"Not me, Diarmuid."

Usagi clenched her chopsticks tight as the picture of Diarmuid's face came back into her mind, followed by the eerie feeling she had when she was near him.

"Listen to me Usagi; the Cosmic Warriors are the only ones who can stand a chance against the Dark Kingdom. If one of their minions witnessed one of them being awakened and they managed to make it back, or somehow report to them about what they saw. Well, the Dark Kingdom would do everything possible to stop them." Luna explained to the blonde who was still trying hard to ignore her. "He saw you as yourself and then saw you transform into Warrior Moon. I received word from the Guard they were able to capture a large number of the attackers, but none of them lived to make it to questioning."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Usagi asked between bites.

"Most of them died on the way to headquarters, we're investigating the cause as we speak."

"Wait, the Guard people captured them? What about the police?" She dropped her box into her lap, no longer wanting to put up a front.

"Many Guard members are a part of the police force, to ensure things like this don't get blown out of proportion or the public doesn't catch on to what's happening under their noses. People fear what they don't understand Usagi, if people knew about the threat the Dark Kingdom poses, the country could crumble. If they were exposed the Dark Kingdom would have no reason to keep their actions a secret any longer." Luna explained and walked up beside Usagi who was staring out into the distance. "It doesn't matter that you don't want to be Warrior Moon. The fact that you're alive now is the only thing they care about."

Usagi shifted her gaze to watch the street below, at the laughing and happy students looking so carefree while she jabbed her sticks against the bottom of the box.

"They'll probably start with your family, your little brother first." Luna said softly, Usagi furrowed her brow trying to figure where she was going with this. "Then your parents, if they're patient they'll make you watch while they murder them, if not they'll do it while you're away and give you a surprise when you return home."

Usagi froze in her spot while Luna spoke. "Followed by your friends, more than likely everyone here in school and your neighborhood, giving you nowhere to run and no one to turn to. They'll send you to a funeral every week and finally after they've given you time to realize that you've brought death to everyone around you. After you've _begged_ and _pleaded_ to be saved and freed from the hell they've dropped you in."

Usagi turned to Luna who sat still, tail wrapped around her legs. She couldn't believe what the small cat had just said to her, tears swelled in her eyes as the wind brushing against the roof blew her hair into her face, but in between blonde streaks she never lost sight of Luna's eyes, the ones she always felt on her, always boring into her.

"They'll kill you." Luna finished and the wind picked up for just a moment before dying back down. Usagi felt the tears spill over and something in the pit of her stomach give way. Luna rose onto her paws and turned her back to Usagi. "Maybe I should have mentioned this sooner, but as I was making my way up here, I spotted Diarmuid in the hallway."

Usagi stared down at her with a fire in her eyes and shot up from her spot on the roof and sprinted towards the door. She spun around and rushed down the ladder before reaching the ground and bursting through another door and back into her school. Frantically she glanced around for him, tearing around corners and flying down steps.

After she had looked around the entire third and second floors she paused for a quick break near the stairwell.

"Gah! All this running!" She placed a hand on her side and wheezed and that's when she saw him. Down on the first floor, leaning against a wall of lockers, he was watching girls walk past.

"Found you!" Usagi leaned forward over the railing and shouted to him, gaining the attention of everyone in the area. Diarmuid smiled at her before winking and dashing out of her line of sight. She tore herself away from the spot and down the stairs, bumping past Umino and his friends on the way.

"Watch where you're going, dumpling head!" A boy, Yuuji Kimura, shouted after her.

"I don't have time you for jerk!" Usagi shrieked before going down the rest of the steps. "And stop calling me that!" She dashed across the hall and towards the lockers she'd seen him at and tried to look above the crowd to spot him.

"I can't let him get away!" She rasped.

Pushing off from the lockers Usagi rushed down the hallway towards the entrance to the school, glancing outside and then down the rest of the hall she tried to determine which way to go. Swearing under her breath she pushed her way out of the door and hurried through the yard, looking about frantically for any sign of him.

"Usagi." Luna said, scratching her leg gently.

"Ow! What the –?" Usagi screamed before quieting down realizing who had called her. Luna circled her legs, wrapping her tail around them before Usagi scooped her up.

"What do you want now Luna?" Usagi groaned under her breath as she walked down the sidewalk with the cat, away from anyone that might be listening.

"According to Ami, you wanted to go to the hospital." Luna said.

"You talked to Ami?" Usagi asked skeptically.

"Eavesdropped." Luna purred.

"I wanted to see Naru, see how she's doing." Usagi frowned, realizing she had really let Naru's attacker go by now. "Are you coming with me?"

"I don't see why not." Luna said crawling up onto her shoulder. "I have business of my own there.

"What business could a cat possibly have at a hospital?" Usagi asked incredulously, not believing Luna had a legitimate reason for tagging along.

"Doing some checking on the stories from that night." Luna said and turned to her giving her a stern look. "I hope I don't have to explain to you why I believe the Dark Kingdom was behind all the attacks." Luna said as Usagi crossed the street.

"No." Usagi answered; sadly she had already come to the same conclusion. "But Luna how come there isn't anything on the news about this. Nothing on the people who broke in."

"I said it before; part of the Silver Guard's job is to make sure some things don't leak to the public. Some of the Guard's members were undercover as officers that night and handled the arrests. When it comes to taking statements and testimonies we made sure to handle all of that as well and anything that slipped through the cracks was intercepted before it was seen by too many people."

"But –"

"It's for the best."

The pair walked in silence, in Usagi's mind questions were running rampant and her thoughts became like boomerangs. Sending her thinking out in one direction before she came back to reality, only to get sent on another quest mulling something else over.

"Hey Luna, when you saw Diarmuid, did he seem injured to you?" Usagi asked, with eyes on the ground as she walked towards home.

"Now that you mention it no, why?" Luna thought back to their run-in, he seemed perfectly fine to her.

"That Mask guy stabbed him in the shoulder with something and I – I got him in the back once." She shivered at the thought of stabbing him. "Do you think any normal person would be walking around like that just two days after?"

"Usagi, he's far from normal." She reminded.

"I know, but still." Usagi frowned. "I guess it's possible he had some kind of healing medicine or something..."

"I'm sure it's something more complex than that Usagi." Luna said, finding comfort in how simple it all seemed to her.

After arriving home Usagi rushed to her room and emptied out her bag at Luna's suggestion to give her a way of sneaking into the hospital. Although she had just finished her lunch she forced herself to eat a couple biscuits from that morning's breakfast and chug a bottle of water before heading out again. They arrived at the hospital shortly after and Usagi carried Luna inside her book bag carefully, with the zipper open slightly.

"Uh – excuse me, can you help me?" Usagi asked a woman sitting behind a large circular information desk.

"Depends, what can I do for you?" A blonde receptionist asked sweetly from behind a large grey computer.

"My friend was the victim of a break-in the other night and she had some injuries I guess so they brought her here. So I was wondering if you could tell me what room she's in." Usagi shifted from side to side, trying to keep Luna stirring in the bag from drawing attention while the nurse typed away.

"Name?" She asked.

"Oh, I'm Usagi."

"No, your friend's name."

"Naru Osaka..." Usagi shook her head, feeling dense for misunderstanding. She watched as she scrolled down the page and made various facial expressions at the screen.

"Is everything okay?" Usagi asked wanting to lean over the desk to see what was so troubling.

"Sorry, yes. I was just looking at her file; it seems she had quite a night." The woman frowned again and shook her head.

"Is she okay?" Usagi asked, trying to get the woman to spill.

"It's best if you talk to her doctor about this, I'll have her escort you to her room." The receptionist smiled weakly before sliding across the floor in her chair and picking up the phone. She held it there for a moment before tapping a few buttons. "Doctor Mizuno, are you available to come to the lobby? The Osaka girl has a –" The nurse smiled to Usagi whose ears perked up hearing a familiar name. "Naru Osaka. Yes, her, she has a visitor."

After ending the call the receptionist, whose named Usagi learned was Sonoko, told her to have a wait until the doctor arrived.

Usagi waited patiently in one of the stiff chairs in the lobby for a few minutes before she ended up tapping her foot in front of a vending machine. From her bag dangling in front of her she heard Luna's hushed voice.

"Honestly Usagi, are you ever going to stop eating?"

"Shut up Luna." Usagi barked and shook the bag. "Just a snack to hold me over until the doctor comes..."

Usagi deposited a dollar in change to the machine and jabbed the button for a bag of tortilla chips.

Luna groaned as the girl headed back to the chairs gnawing away at the chips when a blue haired woman in a white coat appeared out of an elevator.

"Oh Usagi, how are you doing?" Saeko asked in a cheerful tone and crossed the room to the girl.

Usagi panicked seeing the doctor and was quick to swallow down the chip in her mouth. "I'm fine thanks; I'm just here to see Naru." Usagi said and hopped up, leaving her book bag behind her on the chair.

"Well come on up with me, I'll take you." Saeko motioned for her to follow her as she headed for the elevator. Usagi followed after her quickly before she heard something fall behind her and her eyes shot open seeing her bag squirming on the ground. She dashed back to it and yanked it off the floor immediately.

"Sorry Luna..." She whispered and a quick black paw shot out of the bag, desperately trying to swipe at her. She rattled the bag before hurrying back to the doctor who was boarding an elevator.

"So how was Naru when they brought her in? Was everything okay?" Usagi asked, dropping the nearly empty chip bag into her book bag.

"To be honest, no." Saeko answered and held a clipboard to her chest and shook her head while she spoke. "She's been through a lot and was barely able to communicate with us, due to shock from the incident." she continued. "After doing an examination I can see why." She pulled the clipboard back for a moment to glance over the file.

"An examination for what?" Usagi asked, trying to peek at the clipboard while patting the book bag to calm the cat inside which she assumed was furious by now.

"Well, usually in these situations, when a woman is the target of an attack we do a full body examination just to make sure everything is okay. It's simply procedure." Dr. Mizuno smiled to Usagi, but it wasn't comforting at all. She assumed this smile was shown to a lot of people to make the bad news bearable.

"I take it everything was not okay..." Usagi retorted fishing for the answer that both the receptionist and the doctor were dancing around.

"Far from it... I'm sorry to tell you this Miss Tsukino, but your friend Naru, was raped."

Raped.

Inside of Usagi's head she felt like a glass jar had fallen from the top of a building and shattered on the concrete below. From that jar came the definitions of the word along with mental images that accompanied the explanations, all of which flooded her mind. Her eyes began to burn instantly; tilting her head back was all she could do to keep the tears from spilling over.

Through watery eyes Usagi stared at the light in the elevator, her vision shifting and reflecting moving and blurred images of the ceiling as the tears intensified. The soft shaking of the bag in her hands alerted her to make sure Luna kept still, only it wasn't Luna moving the bag. She couldn't stop her hands from shaking; she took in a heavy breath before looking to the doctor.

The sudden movement of her head caused the tears to spill over and run down her face. "C – Can I see her? I mean, is she...?" Usagi trailed off, unsure of how to progress and Doctor Mizuno smiled to her gently, still she didn't feel comforted.

"I'm sure she'd appreciate seeing a friendly face." Saeko said and checked the board once more as the elevator doors opened. "She's in room 318."

Usagi nodded in understanding and Saeko gave her a sympathetic nod before walking out and meeting up with a fellow doctor. Usagi glanced around before she burst into a quick sprint down the hall, away from any nurses or wandering patients.

She threw herself against a wall and slid down onto the ground where she buried her face into her hands, bawling and choking back on tears instantly.

She remained there for a while, long enough for her cries to be heard throughout the floor and for several of the staff to come check on her and for her to grumble at them, refusing their help.

"Usagi..." From inside the bag came Luna's quiet voice. Usagi dropped the bag down beside her and ripped the zipper open all the way, Luna's head emerged and Usagi dropped hers back to the wall.

"He – He _raped_ her..." As hard as she tried, her anger didn't translate when she had to refer to Naru as a rape victim, only sympathy and sorrow filled her heart. She felt cold saying the word aloud, perpetual tears leaked down her face; on her shoulder she felt Luna's paw and she buried her face back into her hands. As she cried she choked on her tears and felt mucus coming from her nose.

"Usagi, I'm sorry..." Luna placed a paw onto Usagi's hand, trying her best to calm the girl who seemed on the verge of a breakdown, if she wasn't already having one.

"I'm gonna do it Luna." She said with a quiet and shaky voice.

"Wait, do what?" Luna asked, leaning closer to her, half expecting for Usagi to reveal some kind of secret.

"Become a Warrior." Usagi stated. "I have to," she added in before Luna could say anything. "to be able to protect Naru and everyone else."

Luna paused for a moment and nodded her head at the girl. "I'm glad you've come to the right choice, but I'm just sorry it took this incident to bring you around." Luna said as she sunk back into the bag before quickly leaping out.

"Luna, you can't wander around!" She whispered.

"I'll be fine; I have something to check on, go see Naru okay?" Luna winked before running off down the hall and disappearing out of sight.

Usagi remained in the hall a while longer, trying to gather strength to put on a smile before she made her way to Naru. As she looked for the room, she wandered down the halls feeling like she didn't belong there, certainly not to be checking up on her friend who had been the victim of a sexual assault. In her head she read off the numbers of the rooms she passed until she found the one she'd been looking for.

She made a slow turn into room 318 and in bed laid a sleeping Naru looking like any other hospital patient. Attached to her arm were gauze patches where the doctors had taken blood samples and her knees were covered with a thick layer of bandages.

Usagi took in a heavy breath that only seemed to erupt a new wave of uneasy rumbling in her stomach as she approached the side of the bed. Slowly she reached for Naru's hand, taking the girls fingers into her palm and squeezing them gently.

"Hey Naru..." Usagi said so quietly she might as well have been talking to herself. "It's gonna be okay." She ended bluntly; perhaps she was the person who needed convincing that everything would be okay. She stood in silence for a moment, listening only to the beeping of a machine that monitored Naru's heartbeat.

"I know," she started, and quickly wiped away the beginning of more tears. "I know you can't hear me, but can I tell you a story anyway?" Usagi crouched down onto her knees and held Naru's hand close as she leaned against the bed.

"You know that cat, Luna? She's something else." She broke out with a quick laugh, everything Luna said sounded like a movie until now. Now when the corrupted fantasy world had told her about had collided with her real life and done something so evil she could barely believe it. She knew now, it was all real.

"She told me I'm a warrior and I have to fight to save the world pretty much." She paused and looked to Naru. Part of her wanted her to wake up to they could actually talk, but on the other hand unloading this on her felt better.

"I know right? _Me_ save the world. I can't even get to class on time," she stopped again and laughed, this time at herself and saw tears crash against Naru's hand. She sniffled and quickly wiped her eyes. "Um... But I'm gonna do it because I'm going to protect you and I guess the whole world..." Usagi said, thinking about all the responsibility being Warrior Moon seemed to come with.

"I'm just." She paused again, her voice quivering as her vision became to blurry through the tears to make out anything other than hazy colours. "I'm just really sorry I couldn't save you before you – you were..." She trailed off, looking to the side unable to say it again, certainly not in Naru's presence. She laid her head down on the bed; holding Naru's hand close and felt the urge to wail overwhelm her.

"I'm sorry." She began to close her eyes and the tears intensified and as her eyes clamped shut, the tears spilled over. "I'm sorry." Usagi's shoulders began to jump as she cried hard in to the bedding, clutching Naru's hand for dear life.

She wasn't sure if she had simply stayed like that for long or if at some point she'd fallen asleep. But when she opened her eyes the light coming through the room was considerably less bright than before.

Before departing from Naru's side she gave her hand a soft kiss, and left several damp spots where her tears can landed and ventured out into the hall. She rubbed her sore eyes and stretched, wondering how long she'd been at the hospital now.

In the hall Usagi was alone, neither a doctor nor nurse was around and it was eerily silent. "It's quiet..."

She looked back into the room, empty. Naru wasn't in her bed; Usagi rushed back in and pressed her hands onto the bed, her eyes opened wide unable to understand what was happening.

"Help!" She quickly made her way out into the hallway and called for someone, anyone. Usagi kept her hands along the wall as she walked down the hall, trying to get out into the main area but the hall never seemed to end.

"Anyone...?" She whimpered and slowed her gait before leaning against the wall; down the hall she caught a glimpse of a dark blur moving around in the light of a window.

"Hello?" She called out, stepping away from the wall and towards the figure.

"Hello." From behind her Usagi heard someone answer, quickly she spun to see Diarmuid towering over her. She opened her mouth to scream as his eyes grew large and turned a shade of red. She closed her eyes and felt something soft tapping her cheek before she jerked around.

"Leave me alone!" Usagi jolted back and collapsed on the floor, pushing herself back until she noticed Luna standing on a bed, Naru's bed.

"Luna?" Usagi placed a hand over her chest, feeling her heart beat a mile a minute. She was back in Naru's room, and Naru was still in bed.

"Usagi, are you alright?"

"I don't know... I think had another dream about him." She rose to her feet and sighed with relief seeing Naru still resting peacefully.

"Well if you're ready, we can go now." Luna said sweetly, climbing into the book bag she had dragged into from the hall. Usagi nodded and scooped it up before leaving the room, giving Naru one last fleeting glance.

"I need you to hear this Usagi." Luna poked her head out of the bag and watched Usagi who still seemed to be on the verge of crying.

"What is it?" Usagi asked.

"I found the records for the victims brought in the other night either by the police because of the break-ins or specified by a similar reason. First off, they were all female." Usagi glanced to her instantly and Luna only nodded, signaling Usagi to not interrupt her. "I found their testimonies as well, of the attack and the attackers." Usagi jabbed at the elevator button and Luna kept her head down until they were alone inside.

"I didn't know they kept stuff like that in a hospital." Usagi muttered.

"Well, I made a phone call or two." Luna answered and Usagi gave the cat a questioning look. "First off each description list had four things in common. The first is that the attacker was male, second is that his eyes were strange. Then they all mentioned his hair and that he was wearing some strange suit." Usagi looked down at Luna, trying to understand what it all meant, but her mind was a mess with everything being thrown at her.

"I made a call to the Guard and asked for descriptions of the ones they arrested and they said his appearance was just like the man you encountered Usagi." Luna continued.

"So Naru's rapist attacked these other girls too?" The word stung in her mouth.

"Hold on," Luna said. "apparently the Guard sent over two of our members, Haruka and Michiru, to check out the homes that were broken into and they reported they found traces of a purple powder in most of the homes."

"Who are they?" Usagi asked dumbfounded.

"Two members of the Guard who work mostly with public relations, but went undercover as investigators for this." Luna said offhandedly. "Does purple powder ring a bell to you Usagi?"

"No, should it?"

"One of the victims said she was trying to fix a purple gem she found in her bag into a necklace when it broke and soon after the attacker showed up." Luna said shrinking back into the bag.

"A purple gem?" Usagi asked herself, blue orbs opened wide once it all clicked in her head. "Naru had a purple gem at school that she put into her bag!" The elevator door opened and Usagi rushed out with Luna to get away from everyone as soon as possible, once they were out of the door they started up again.

"Wait Usagi where did the gem come from?" Luna asked and placed a paw onto Usagi's arm.

"Naru saw it on the ground when Ami left." Usagi pressed a finger to her chin, rewinding back to earlier in the week.

"Ami... Oh her!" Luna shouted.

"Yeah she's a new girl in my class, really smart. Naru and I had asked her to be a part of our study group."

"Usagi, the odds are slim, but it's possible Ami is a member of the Dark Kingdom."

"What? Where's that coming from? No way, Ami's super sweet and nice!"

"Usagi think about it, purple powder was found in the homes of the attacks. The powder came from the gems, meaning each of those girls had a gem on them. I would bet those gems somehow triggered the Experiment to attack. And after seeing their latest attack using sexual assault as a way to gather energy..." Luna said and trailed off, realizing how disgusting it sounded when it was laid out like that. "I wouldn't put anything past them."

"Wait, so is some sort of group crime right?"

"Not exactly, remember each of the descriptions was the same." Luna reminded her.

"If they were the same then it was the same guy for each place right?" Usagi asked, confusing herself.

"Usagi... The odds are this one Experiment was a clone and one clone broke into each house. Or rather was already in the house with the victims."

"Oh my gosh, would Ami really be a part of something like that? If she knew what the man was going to do to them...?" Usagi said sadly.

"Usagi, according to the reports none of the other girls were assaulted, like Naru."

Usagi stiffened and the tears she'd been holding back ran down her cheeks.

"So why Naru?!" She blubbered.

"I wish I knew Usagi."

"Luna how? I mean you're a cat! How did you find all this out?" Usagi blurted out, her tears falling down her chin. She felt so helpless; she couldn't get to her friend fast enough, but Luna managed to find out more information about the entire ordeal than even the police.

"Let's head home; we can talk as much as you want." Luna assured her and hopped to her shoulder and rubbed her head against the blonde's as an act of comfort.

* * *

Meanwhile in a dimly lit and smoke filled room, hoards of young men sat glued to their seats as a beautiful woman teetered on the stage ahead of them. She wore a flowing blush coloured dress that seemed to seep into the stage floor of the same colour, or perhaps the dress covered the entire stage, the boys couldn't tell.

Platinum blonde locks cascaded down her back and held in front of rosy lips was a microphone, one in which she sang a beautiful song. Her song and her beauty had transfixed every male in the room into giving her their attention. Her beauty had been so magnificent she had even convinced the woman who ran the House of Fortune to _hire _her as a singer.

Behind the red stage curtain stood Jadeite, peeking through at the audience of mesmerized boys. "Excellent." He watched his Experiment twirl on the stage, holding the microphone with petite and gentle hands while her lips kissed against it, her angelic voice almost managing to send him into a stupor like the others.

He listened carefully as the woman began to substitute lines of the song for the message Jadeite had prepared. Her sweet voice began to replay the same message to the boys, sending them deeper into their trance. Behind the curtain Jadeite extended a hand and in it an unstable ball of energy formed.

"Keep it up Experiment-Psy." He whispered, gazing into the amorphous ball that was growing larger.

* * *

End of Chapter Four

* * *

Next, rude school boys and an unwelcome Experiment bother Usagi's new brawny friend, and could Ami really working for the Dark Kingdom? After following a hunch, Usagi comes across not one, but two Experiments! Can she save her friends and destroy her enemies? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Five - Blonde Ambition 1**


	5. Blonde Ambition 1

**Cosmic Warriors  
**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, or their original owners, respectively.

**Note: **Long chapter :) Thanks always for the feedback and to JulietShadow and SadieSwirl for being my beta readers.

**Review Note - Lunary: **I just find someone who fits with the idea of the chapter/villain. D-U-D and another Experiment you'll read about soon have been the only two I crafted their parts of the story around, the rest were all crafted to fit the story.  
**Follow Note - raya9 & artzyfartzy ****: **Couldn't send you two a PM, but thanks for following.

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE - Blonde Ambition 1**

* * *

The next morning every clock in the Tsukino home read less than one minute until six a.m. Stationed on her bed Usagi held a hand over her own, ready to slap the off button the moment the alarm started. She had woken up very early thanks to Luna, who was sitting at the edge of her bed watching patiently.

"Come on ring you stupid – Ah-ha!" As Usagi began to insult her clock, the hands jutted into the position, signaling it was on the hour. Usagi smiled as the familiar alarm she always slept through came out. With great satisfaction Usagi slapped a hand down onto it and sent the clock flying and tumbling across the floor. "Yes!" Usagi announced and hopped from her bed, fully dressed in her school uniform, bag in hand with her lunch packed neatly inside.

"I'm impressed." Luna commented walking towards the center of the bed.

"As much as I hate getting up early." Usagi stood in front of her mirror, checking herself out. "If it's for Naru, then I'll do whatever it takes. But Luna, you really do think Ami is working with the Dark Kingdom?"

"Since we haven't been able to capture any Experiments, it looks like she's our only lead." Luna reminded and hopped onto her shoulder.

"Right." Usagi nodded and headed across her room, kicking the alarm clock to the side, before she walked into the hallway. Across from her, Kenji was emerging from the bathroom, groggily rubbing his eyes.

"Usagi, what are you doing?" He grumbled to his daughter.

"Going to school of course. Love you. bye!" Usagi blew him a kiss before descending down the stairs and soon out the front door.

As soon as Usagi stepped onto the sidewalk she collided with something that shoved her backwards "What the-?" Usagi stammered as she regained her balance and as she turned to look at the one she'd ran into.

"You again dumpling head?" Mamoru scoffed weakly as he clutched his side, he seemed dead on his feet with pale skin and dark circles under his eyes.

"You okay jerk face? You don't look so hot." Usagi teased, jabbing a finger into his shoulder.

"I'm fine!" He barked. Mamoru staggered away and glared at her.

"Really? Because you look terrible." She sang, on her shoulder Luna stirred impatiently.

"I don't have time for you today, dumpling head." He waved her off before limping up the sidewalk.

"He really doesn't look good." Usagi said in all seriousness.

"And _we_ don't have time for him. Let's get going Usagi, Ami gets to school rather early and I don't want to miss her." Luna reminded as she glanced around them to make sure no one would hear her.

"Gotcha."

As Usagi made her way to school she thought back to the night before when she sat up with Luna, who answered each question she had about the Silver Millennium and being a Cosmic Warrior.

* * *

_Her way home with Luna was mostly silent, the only words spoken were by Luna telling Usagi to be mindful of cars or other people on the street. Once they got home she had Luna head up to her room while she talked to her parents, mostly her mother about what she had learned at the hospital. She spent a good half hour crying in her mother's arms before meeting Luna upstairs._

_"You can ask me whatever you like Usagi." Luna said as cheerfully as she could manage as Usagi plopped down onto the bed._

_"Could you just start from the beginning?" She said gloomily with her eyes clamped shut. "With the Silver Mill – uh Mill..."_

"_Millennium." Luna finished._

"_Yeah that."_

_"Alright, well to start, the name Silver Millennium refers to a time period for the people of the Moon, Lunarians; ruled by Queen Serenity. It was attacked by an evil force, one day; a dark cloud covered the Moon Kingdom and from it emerged terrible monsters and people who began to slay the people of the Kingdom. Using the last of her strength the Queen was able to save her daughter, the Moon Princess, her one true love, the guardians of the Princess and her advisors. That would be me and another member of the Guard named Artemis." Luna said, lying beside Usagi and tapping her arm with her tail._

_"So I'm one of the guardians?" Usagi asked with eyes focused on her ceiling._

_"Correct."_

_"And how many of us are there?"_

_"Four more guardian warriors each named after their respective planets. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. But there are other guardians as well. Some make up a branch of the Silver Guard. There were several more, but since the fall of our kingdom, we haven't heard from them. It's assumed they're dead."_

_"Uh I know I'm not great in school, but did you forget about Earth?" Usagi asked sitting up._

_"I didn't forget there just isn't a Warrior Earth." Luna assured._

_"How come?"_

_"Each of the inner planets has a Princess guardian, but Earth instead had a prince. His name was Endymion and he was the love of the Moon Princess." Luna said sweetly, getting caught up in the moment._

_"Aww..." Usagi cooed and rolled over and began to imagine what it would be like to be a princess, to have beautiful dresses, a handsome prince and to live in a castle. "Wait Luna, if the Queen saved all those people what happened to the evil people that attacked them? They're obviously alive and doing well for themselves." She snapped._

_"The Dark Kingdom itself was formed within the last century from the reawakened servants of the evil force that destroyed the Moon Kingdom."_

_"Have they been doing stuff like this for a while then?" Usagi asked, referring to the attacks._

_"Yes, but always small things that the Guard has been able to take care of on their own. But it seems we underestimated them. Although the Guard is capable of handling things, they cannot do as much damage to the Dark Kingdom as a Cosmic Warrior or even the Princess can. They are called the Guard for a reason, because their job is to protect."_

_"And about this?" Usagi threw her arm out, smacking Luna in the face with her moon charm._

_"It's your transformation item." Luna growled, swatting at it as Usagi yanked it out of her reach. "Keep it on at all times."_

_"As if I could take it off." Usagi said dryly and rolled her eyes._

_"Do you remember the transformation phrase?" Luna asked._

_"Yeah, do I just say it to transform?"_

_"You don't have to say it, you just need to be holding the moon charm, that's why you always need to have it on." Luna walked towards the edge of the bed before turning back to her. "Saying the phrase every time would be quite ridiculous and an easy way to blow your cover should you be undercover. Go ahead and transform."_

_"Right now?" Usagi asked sitting up and looking at the charm._

_"Yes."_

_"How do I do it if I don't say the phrase?"_

_"Focus. Focus on your suit, and the weapon, and feeling of being a Cosmic Warrior!" Luna stated proudly._

_"Riiight..." Usagi closed her eyes and allowed herself to be taken back to the night she fought Diarmuid. She concentrated on the feeling of the suit, the look of it, the weight of her lance and how the world looked through her mask. After a flash of light Usagi stood tall in her streamline jumpsuit and carefully held the weapon up to avoid stabbing it into the floor like she did at Naru's. Pushing the mask from her face she turned to the mirror to look herself over._

_"I did it!"_

_"Good job."_

_"This mask is kind of annoying, doesn't let me see much..." She whined, bringing it back down over her face._

_"Without it your identity would be compromised. Surely anyone would know it was you even if you wore different clothes." Luna said and headed up the bed, closer to her._

_"About this thing... It's weird looking for a sword." Usagi said with an upward inflection, looking the weapon over carefully._

_"It's more of a lance Usagi."_

_"I guess that makes more sense... I felt it growing last time, and there was something I said that made it grow, but it's still just as short as I remember." She examined the blade, just like the other night, thick at the base and ending at a sharp point._

_"Just like your transformation, the weapons of the Cosmic Warriors have different levels as well." Luna said knowingly._

_"My transformation, what?" Usagi turned to her, slipping the mask off her face and tossing it down beside Luna who stepped into it and curled up. "You're such a cat..."_

_"There are different levels to your transformations." Luna purred. "With each one you will become stronger; your weapon is the same. As it is now, your blade is in its sealed state, I assume the growing you experienced was it trying to advance."_

_"I wish I could remember those words I heard." She groaned, furrowing her brow._

_"Moon Blade Slash." Luna articulated._

_"That's it! Luna how'd you know?" Usagi looked the blade over._

_"I am your advisor after all; my guess is that when you attack with it your sword will enter its next stage." Luna hopped out of the mask as Usagi dropped the blade down on the bed._

_"Sorry Luna, it's heavy..." She shook her hands and whined with a pout. "Is this thing going to get easier to hold?"_

_"With training, wielding it will become easier, yes." Luna eased herself back into the mask._

_"Should I find a trainer or what...?" She asked bluntly._

_"No, the Guard has people who are capable of training you." Luna snickered. "Now that you've decided to be the warrior you were destined to be, I won't have to watch you all the time and I can head back to the headquarters. I'll find someone there for you to train with."_

_"Alright, time to tell me how to get out of this thing!" Usagi cried. "There isn't a zipper!"_

_"You have to focus on what you were wearing before you transformed, focus hard." Luna said as she stepped out of the mask and back on the bed._

_"Focus." Usagi took in a quick breath, closed her eyes and clenched her fists. "I can't focus on it!"_

_"Usagi!"_

_"Don't yell at me Luna!" Usagi screamed and stomped her foot. She whimpered and circular strips of light encased her feet before moving north and covering her body. Her suit then dispersed, leaving only the school uniform she donned before. "It's gone!" Usagi squealed and looked to her bed, seeing the mask gone as well. "It's all gone!"_

_"You did it." Luna said._

_"I did! It was easier than I thought." She glanced to her moon charm. "Luna." The cat's ears perked up. "We have to find the other warriors right?"_

_"And the Princess, but yes finding the other warriors would help us a lot."_

_"Any clue who or where they might be? 'Cause the world is a big place..." She frowned at the idea of searching the world for four people._

_"Don't be ridiculous." Luna mused. "We have strong reason to believe the other warriors are here in Tokyo."_

_"That's really convenient." Usagi smiled and dropped onto her bed, sending the cat flying up from the force. "How will you know when you find them?"_

_"Same as when I found you; I'll feel it."_

_"Did you feel anything yet from anyone else?"_

_"I thought I felt something around Ami, but considering she may be working against us I think I may have misread the feeling."_

_"I felt something once." Usagi said, laying on her side thinking about it._

_"Oh?" Luna challenged. "But Warrior Moon doesn't have physical powers Usagi."_

_"Not like that, but I bumped into this guy and he made me feel strange, same as when I looked at Diarmuid."_

_"Interesting..." Luna purred._

_"Really?" Usagi beamed._

_"No, not really. It's all in your head Usagi."_

* * *

"Even when I'm up early I'm late!" Stopping in front of her school, Usagi hunched over and whined as the bell rang. She neglected to take her usual shortcut and got distracted by a cake being displayed in a shop window on the way.

"Since we won't be finding Ami..." Luna hissed. "I'll be heading off to meet up with some of the Guard; I'll see you after school." Luna jumped from her shoulder and trotted off down the sidewalk, Usagi waved to the cat's backside before trudging up the steps.

"I really hope Ami isn't evil." Usagi frowned, as she crossed the hallway to the stairs when she spotted something coming down from the right. Fixed in an awkward gait was a fair skinned brunette, wearing the same school uniform, only hers looked like she'd stolen it from a doll.

Usagi stopped on the stairs and watched the girl come down the hall. The closer she came the more Usagi could see how much the uniform really didn't fit her. The top looked to be about three sizes too small, and stopped halfway down her midriff, exposing her toned stomach and arms. The skirt was the most alarming, obviously not made for a girl of her stature, the bottom stopping halfway on her thighs and when she walked flared a bit too high.

Usagi stood frozen, unable to take her eyes off the peculiar girl that was now passing by her. Pink dots on the girl's ears caught her eyes, and as she came closer Usagi noticed them to be small earrings in the shape of roses.

"Hey, look it's the amazon!"

Usagi and the girl both looked back down the hall a group of male students were hanging on one another and cackling at their leader whom made the joke. Usagi glanced back to the girl to see her fuming over the remark.

"Why don't you come down here and say that!" She growled, cracking her knuckles, as she watched Usagi was sure the girl was about to tear the sleeves off the shirt.

"C'mon let's go before the giant tries to step on us!" Another called and the chortle of the group faded away as well as the girl's anger.

"You go here right?" She asked, whipping her head in Usagi's direction.

"Uh yeah." Usagi mumbled feeling a bead of sweat slide down her cheek.

"Are all the boys dicks like that?" She asked, pointing a thumb in the direction of some less than impressive male specimens.

"No, not all of them." Usagi said, coming back down the steps. "I've actually never seen any of the boys act like that before."

"Oh... Well I hope I never see them again, for their sake." The girl held a hand out to the blonde. "I'm Makoto Kino, nice to meet you."

"Usagi Tsukino." Usagi took hold of the girl's hand before Makoto gripped Usagi's hand so tightly the girl squealed instantly. "M-Mind if I call you Mako?" Usagi asked weakly trying to wiggle her fingers once Makoto had released them from her vice.

"No, not at all."

"So Mako… What's with your uniform?" Usagi asked ardently.

"Oh this…" She said, pulling at the ends of her skirt. "I'm a new student, but I guess they don't have any uniforms left over that will fit me."

"I see…" Usagi said dryly, still looking Makoto over. "Anyway, sorry about those guys, most of them in the school are pretty nice."

"I find that hard to believe." Makoto said walking up the steps with Usagi. "I heard some kid named Gurio came to school dressed in some cheesy powder blue suit from a 1980's prom, and flipped up his teacher's skirt."

Usagi froze on the steps, her jaw threatening to come unhinged and tumble down to the floor. "No way! Umino? Are you serious? No way!"

"Is that what they call him? Well, that's what I heard, he got sent to the office, but wasn't going to wait there so he left."

"What is going on with the world…?" Usagi groaned as they reached the next floor. "Hey Mako can you wait here, I'm gonna run to the little girl's room."

"Sure thing." Makoto said, leaning back against the railing as Usagi teetered away. Whistling, Makoto looked around the hallway, glancing over posters that advertised community services, school organized parties and a couple informational fliers on how to enroll into the Crystal Seminar.

"Nothing for the gardening club huh? Not even martial arts…" She sighed and listening to footsteps that were coming up the stairs behind her.

"It's a shame the school doesn't offer more to accommodate _all _of its students' hobbies." Slithering his way towards her was Experiment-D-U-D, Diarmuid, dressed in a teal dress shirt, darker teal jacket and dark slacks. He pressed himself up against the railing beside Makoto and smiled at her, pleased with himself once he saw the girl melt before him.

"Y-Yeah, it's a-a-pity."

"Diarmuid." He extended a hand to her that she took slowly.

"You can call me Mako…" She said innocently, shaking his hand.

"Mako." He repeated coolly, bringing her hand to his lips to plant a gentle kiss against it. Makoto squirmed and flushed as the door down the hall swung open and out marched Usagi, she turned to the side and froze in her tracks seeing him fondling Makoto's hand.

"I'll…" He trailed off, noticing the blonde giving him a dangerous look and clutching her moon charm. He shook his head gently before looking back into Makoto's eyes. "I'll see you around, Mako." He stepped back onto the steps and headed down, winking at Usagi before he was out of sight.

"Mako! What happened?" Usagi cried, rushing over.

"Oh this guy…" She said sweetly, gesturing to the spot Diarmuid just left. "He – oh... He looked just like my last boyfriend." She cooed.

"Mako you can't talk to him!" Usagi moved around to her side and forced her to look at her, rather than trying to watch Diarmuid head down the rest of the steps.

"Why, does he have a girlfriend?"

"I certainly hope not…" She whispered.

"So what's the problem?" She asked urgently, now that he was out of sight she was back to her regular self.

"I-I just think it's best you stay away from him, he's one of the guys in the school that are dicks!" She crossed her arms and frowned, although Luna never mentioned talking to other people about the Dark Kingdom, she assumed it was a big no-no.

"He seemed nice to me." Makoto shrugged and headed off to the hall with Usagi.

"You should listen to me Mako; I'm like a love guru around these parts."

"So how come you don't have a boyfriend?"

"Who told you I don't have a boyfriend!" She shrieked.

"Lucky guess." Mako stuck out her tongue and snickered.

After her last class Usagi bolted from the room as fast as she could and began to scan the halls for any sign of Diarmuid. The thought of him being in her school made her skin crawl, but more than anything she wanted to get her hands on him and make him pay. While she was wandering the halls looking for the devious man, she instead she found her newest friend holding a boy up against a locker.

"Mako!"

Makoto turned around after she heard her name and dropped the boy to wave at Usagi. The two met in the middle of the hall and found a spot near the wall to chat by.

"How was your first day?" Usagi asked, still looking around. If Diarmuid was interested in Makoto then keeping close to her was a smart move, she was proud of herself for coming up with it.

"Good, I just can't wait to get out of this uniform." Makoto said and tugged at the skirt. "I'm allowed to wear my old school uniform because apparently I am 'against the school's code of conduct' dressed like this.'" She used air quotes to emphasize the words she had heard from the principal.

"Lookin' good girls." From behind Makoto, Usagi saw a powder blue sleeve covered arm supporting Umino against the wall. Just like Makoto had said, he was dressed in a bad prom outfit, but it was definitely Umino, the same swirly nerdy glasses and all. "Usagi, let's go on a date." He said slyly, moving past Makoto and closing the distance between them quickly.

Usagi raised her eyebrows and her eyes opened wide. "What's wrong with you Umino?" She asked, taking a quick step back.

"I told you Usagi." Makoto quipped.

"Oh, it's you again." Umino turned on his heels to face Makoto, looking her up and down before biting his lip. "I'd like to see what's under that skirt new girl." Umino reached forward for said skirt and managed to run a hand under the hemline before Makoto slammed him against the locker, forcing a cough from the boy.

"Maybe you'd like to see what my fist looks like more?" She snarled, pressing a fist against his nose.

"I like 'em rough." Umino growled.

Makoto rolled her eyes and dropped him. "UGH!. Boys are so gross." She shoved him away back into the wall, not wanting to even be near him.

Umino grinned and cupped his hand against Makoto's backside before turning to Usagi. "Kiss me Usagi."

With a swift swing of her arm Usagi slapped Umino across the face, the sound resonated through the hall and caught the attention of all the students still around. Even Makoto, who was cracking her knuckles ready to leave Umino a few lumps stood in awe.

Usagi kept her head down, feeling tears running along the brim of her eyelids and scrunched her face up. "Boys need to learn to respect girls now before they grow up into pigs." She said quietly at first, becoming louder with each word. "Pigs who have no respect for women and are looked down upon in society!"

She looked up to Umino, tears running down the sides of her face. "I don't know what happened to you Umino, but I don't like you like this, I actually hate you! You and your stupid friends who think that it's okay to treat girls like this!" Usagi pointed an accusing finger to Yuuji and a group of three other boys who had been watching Umino.

Umino furrowed his brow at her before turning and moving past Makoto. "Whatever Usagi, guys let's get out of here." He walked to his friends who all shot Usagi glares before disappearing around the corner.

"He's lucky he left!" Makoto huffed, wringing her hands together. "I would have taught him to respect women one way or another. But, I guess your way was good too... Usagi?" Makoto stopped, seeing Usagi leaning against the wall. Covering her eyes with her sleeve, but Makoto could see tears streaming down her face, with her bottom lip quivering Usagi was on the verge of wailing. "It's okay Usagi, you don't have to cry."

"I know it's just…" Usagi stammered, wiping her eyes. She didn't feel like telling her the real reason he upset her. "His suit was just so ugly!"

"Yeah, it was pretty tacky... Hey let's go do something fun to get your mind off it!" Makoto offered, linking arms with Usagi and pulling her along down the hall.

"Have you been to the arcade yet?" Usagi asked through a sniffle as they started down a flight of stairs to the first floor.

"Game Center Crown? I've heard of it, but haven't been inside yet." Makoto smiled to her.

"Then I will be able to kick your butt in the new Sailor V game."

"Sounds like a plan, but let me get changed first." Upon reaching the ground floor Makoto pulled away and held up her bag before ducking into the ladies room.

Usagi nodded to herself and looked around the hall, she hadn't seen where Umino had gone off to, and she was slightly glad about that. While she waited for Makoto to change she dried her eyes and managed to collect herself before the girl reappeared.

* * *

_'I know your secret Minako~Or should I say Sailor V?'_

Minako stood in front of her locker and read the small note that she'd found again. She dropped some books inside before she slammed the door shut and rolled her eyes. With a heavy sigh she shook her head before she turned the note over to check the back.

_'Meet me tonight in the construction zone.'_

She narrowed her eyes at the paper and simply stuffed it into her pocket and headed off down the hall. Careful not to let a reaction about the note show, in case its sender was nearby, she kept her cool as she strutted down the hall. As she rounded a corner she dug a hand into her bag, her fingers grazed her Sailor V mask before she grabbed her cell phone. Quickly, she dialed in a number and bit her bottom lip until the ringing stopped.

"Hi! I've got bad news..." Minako said in a baby voice with an overexerted pout. "Someone knows." She swapped the baby talk for a serious tone in an instant.

"Do you know who it is?" Artemis asked, while he circled the phone lying on Minako's bed in his feline form.

"Nope!" She responded. "They left me a cute little note in my locker saying that they knew my secret. And that they want to meet me tonight."

"Are you going?" Artemis asked as he swatted at a piece of lint the wind was blowing around.

"Don't you think I should?" She glanced around to make sure no one was paying close attention to her.

"It could be some idiot who wants you to pay him, or else he'll tell the world."

"I wish! I would love to be known as Sailor V internationally." Minako said as her eyes filled with stars.

"Be careful if you go. You know what to do if you get into trouble." Artemis said, desperately trying to pin down the hint. "I gotta go; I'm doing something... important." In a flash of light he returned to his bare human form and ended the call, catching the lint in his hand and flashing his teeth in victory.

* * *

After spending a good two hours with Makoto at the arcade the two friends parted ways and Makoto rushed off to the dojo. She asked Usagi to come with her, but the idea of working out after school, or ever, didn't appeal to her. Instead Usagi lingered around the street humming the Sailor V game theme song until a black cat brushed against her legs.

"Oh Luna, it's just you."

"Mrow!"

Usagi scooped up the cat and held her in her arms and began to stroke the top of her head. "I'm bored." she whined.

"Now would be a good time to get some training in." The feline offered quietly, to which Usagi groaned in response.

"Why don't we get a second opinion on that?" Usagi beamed and glanced around before skipping across the street. "There's a small fortune telling stand nearby, we can ask the old man if physical activity is something I should be doing today."

"Usagi! This is hardly how you should be deciding such a task!" Luna chided as she bounced around in the jumpy girl's arms.

"Oh hush Luna!" Usagi snapped as she turned a corner and off to the left as flashy neon signs caught her eye. "House of Fortune... Why does that sound familiar?" She asked as she walked down the sidewalk, keeping her eyes on the sign.

"I don't remember that being there before." Luna added, equally intrigued in the building. "Seems awfully misplaced in this area." Luna looked up and down the street, not only it the most lit up building, it was also the tallest.

"I guess they really want business. Hey old man?" Usagi turned the corner quickly, but stopped short of entering the small alleyway once she noticed it was barren. "Where is he?"

"Usagi, why would anyone set up a shop in such a small space?" Luna asked incredulously and furrowed her brow.

"How should I know? Maybe he's taking today off, or maybe he's closed already."

"Since you won't be getting any helps from the spirits, it looks like we'll be training after all!" Luna reminded.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Luna." Usagi spun around and pointed to the House of Fortune. "If my intuition is right that place is a fortune telling shop, they'll probably tell me I'm in no condition to be wielding any kind of heavy equipment, nothing heavier than a spoon with ice cream on it to be precise." She sang, crossing the street with the now sighing cat.

"Any excuse to get out of work eh?"

"You know it!" Usagi smiled and entered through the front door of the House of Fortune, instantly coughing on the incense smoke that filled the room. "Wonder where the fortune teller is..."

"Maybe that way." Luna raised a paw to a large archway with a long purple curtain hanging from it.

Slowly Usagi moved through it and entered into a larger room filled with round tables with three to four chairs at each of them. Placed around the room were large pillars that supported the ceiling and on each of the tables were purple cloth with a small speaker resting on top.

Sitting at each of the tables were boys whose ages seemed to range from early to late teens. At the front of the room was a wide stage and standing on it was a tall woman dressed in a flowing red dress that seemed to cover the stage itself. While she teetered around the stage, she caressed a microphone in her hand and let the cord drape over her shoulder and down her back.

Usagi couldn't make out what it was she was singing, but it made her feel doleful, as if she could feel the depression emitting from the woman and her words. Gingerly, she progressed through the room searching for an empty seat somewhere before quickly realizing not only was the room filled with only boys, but each and every chair was occupied.

"Geez what a sausage fest..." She groaned, setting Luna down on a nearby table, the cat instantly moved towards the speaker that was projecting the woman's voice directly to the table's occupants. "Oh it's Umino!"

"This doesn't seem right." Luna said after listening closely to what the woman was singing.

"That's why it sounds familiar! Yuuji said they were coming here." Usagi tapped her head and moved over to the table she saw Umino sitting at. "Hey Umino... I just wanted to apologize for slapping you this morning, but you have to admit, you had it coming..." She placed a hand on his shoulder and watched the boy slowly tilt in her direction before collapsing at her feet. She squealed out of shock and the singer on the stage broke in mid-song.

"You've disrupted my show..." She said, she sounded deeply distraught.

"I-I'm sorry... But I don't think my friend is okay..." Usagi lifted a foot out from under Umino and prodded him with it.

"This woman, she isn't human!" Luna called out, leaping to Usagi off the tables.

"Yuuji?" Usagi asked the boy sitting beside Umino and nudged him and stood horrified as the boy fell limply from his seat as well. "Luna, what's wrong with them?" She dropped to the ground and cupped Umino's face in her hands, his skin feeling cold and dry.

"This woman has most likely sucked the energy out of them." Luna hissed at the woman on the stage, which was holding the microphone weakly at her side, the dull hiss of the electronics filled the room now.

"That means she's what? With the Dark Kingdom?" Usagi asked, struggling to keep her tears back as she placed Umino back down on the floor.

"Very good, Luna." From behind the stage curtain came the sound of clapping, coupled with a man's voice. The scarlet curtain flew open to reveal Jadeite dressed in his usual grey uniform. "I didn't expect anyone to see through Experiment-Psy's performance."

"Who are you?" Usagi asked, using a chair beside her to keep herself from trembling in the presence of the man.

"His name is Jadeite; he works for the Dark Kingdom." Luna hissed.

"Oh Luna, what a pleasure." He sneered at her before glancing to the woman who stood stoically on the stage. "Kill them Psyche."

"Yes sir." The woman then pulled the microphone to her lips and closed her eyes, a high-pitched scream then burst through the speakers around the room instantly after. The sound forced Usagi onto the ground, trying to block the noise out. In the chaos Jadeite disappeared back behind the curtains and Luna struggled to keep an eye on him as she too began to feel overwhelmed by the sound.

"Transform!" Luna shouted.

The girl opened her eyes and glanced sideways at her bracelet, the moon charm dangled freely and she quickly took hold of it. After a brilliant flash of light and a gust of wind that rocked the tables she stood tall in her suit. Holding the lance grip weakly she readied herself to strike and the Experiment opened her eyes, taking note of the situation now.

"Moon Blade Slash!" Warrior Moon cried out instantly, her lance blade glowing and extending as she prepared to swing, only for her focus to be shattered when Luna head butted her. Moon teetered to the side before stumbling against the table. "Luna!"

"Be careful! You've never used the attack before; you have no clue what it could do! You could slice through one of the support beams and bring this entire ceiling down on all of us!" Luna hissed at her as the glow dimmed and the blade shrunk to its original size. "She doesn't look like she has any special weapons anyway; this could just be the practice you need."

"If you say so..." She whined and held the weapon out ahead of her as she moved to the stage. Seeing her come in closer the woman took several steps back and Moon crawled onto the stage. "Alright, don't make this hard on yourself..." she said slowly, completely aware of how unsure she sounded.

In a quick jerking movement the Experiment hurled the microphone out at Moon who held the lance up and allowed the cord to wrap around it. Moon groaned feeling the woman pulling back on the cord as she struggled not to let her yank the weapon from her hands.

"Cut it out!" She cried and pulled back, ripping the rest of the cord from her hands and causing the woman to stumble forward. Moon quickly tore the cord off the lance and pointed it at the woman with trembling knees as she stared her down.

"Stop messing around Warrior Moon!" Luna called from somewhere in the audience.

"Right…" Moon mumbled before lunging forward to the Experiment, who swiftly sidestepped the blade and slammed a hand down onto it. Moon glanced up at her to see her distraught pout morph into a grin before her mouth widened and a deafening wail emitted from it.

"Gah!" Moon trembled as she felt the vibration run through her blade, into the grip and through her body while the wail itself was blaring through her ears. "L-Luna help!" She struggled to turn her head to the audience in hopes of seeing Luna, but the stage lights blocked most of her view and seeing a black cat in the crowd was nearly impossible anyway.

As fast as it had come the screaming stopped for a moment, the woman's voice dropping into a husky moan before escalating back up, this time as she hit the top of the scale the glass windows shattered. Moon dropped on the stage and shielded the back of her head as the fragments began to whiz through the room, all at the command of the Experiment's voice.

"Warrior Moon do something!" Luna bellowed, leaping from table to table, avoiding waves of glass shards.

"I don't know what to do…" she whined and stood up, pressing the blade into the stage for support. She watched as the Experiment began to hover above the stage, her dress flowing around her feet as she rose. Warrior Moon strained her eyes as she tried to come up with a plan, narrowly dodging a barrage of shards that came for her legs.

"I can't attack or I might hurt the boys… But if I just stand here, she'll get me!" She shrieked and jerked back to avoid a stream of shards coming at her. "I can't think with her singing like that!"

"Shut up!" Moon threw herself forward and took hold of the woman's dress. After grabbing a handful of a red fabric she tugged on it hard, yanking the woman back down towards her. The sudden movement caused the woman's voice to quiver and the flying glass to shake before Moon rammed her head against the Experiment's, her hardened white mask bashing against the soft cartilage of the singer's nose.

As she pulled back she could spot a line of blood dripping from her nostrils and see her teetering backwards and off the stage, hitting the ground below with a soft thud.

"It… worked?" Moon questioned and to her right saw Luna leap onto the stage.

"Finish it Moon!"

"Right!" She yanked the lance out of the stage and headed to the edge, holding it over and above the woman's body. "I'm sorry…"

As she raised the lance up with trembling arms, the Experiment seemed to burst with life. Her mouth opened wide and her hair flared out around her, like it had a mind of its own. From her mouth came a deep howl that was strong enough to send Warrior Moon flying up to the ceiling. She shrieked seeing the stage get further and further away before she started to fall. As she hit the stage she saw the woman hobbling away through the audience and to the exit.

"Wait!" She called out, trying to stand but was unable to get her wobbly legs under her.

"Warrior Moon, stop messing around!" Luna screeched near the exit. "She's getting away!"

"I can see that Luna!" Moon cried as she crawled off the stage. "But what about the boys?" She furrowed her brow and looked to Umino, she expected him to have woken up by now.

"If you defeat her, the boys will return to normal, now come on!"

* * *

As per the request of the sender of the note, Minako had ventured to the construction zone at the time written. She'd left Artemis behind at the entrance to keep watch and was wandering through the collection of steel girders that would one day become a building. Through her Sailor V mask the girl kept eyes on every shadow, not wanting to risk a sneak attack.

"So glad you could make it, pretty girl." A tender voice said from somewhere within the construction zone around Sailor V. "Or can I call you V now?"

"I'd prefer if you called me Sailor V." V said and stepped out from under a collection of girders. "I'd also prefer it if you showed yourself."

"Why the formalities? I already know your identity after all." From the shadows to the right of Minako stepped out a man, dressed in dark pants, a white shirt and a brown sweater. His hair was brown and wild, falling around his face in wavy wisps. "I haven't told Jadeite yet, I figure it won't matter once you're dead." His eyes were wide and his lips played into a sinister grin as he stepped into the moonlight. "It's nice to see you again."

"I can't say the same." she sighed. "So tell me your name and why you're here causing so much trouble." She continued offhandedly, running through the questions she typically asked in these situations.

"Well you can call me Eros, and trouble?" He asked, appearing offended. "I'm trying to get this building built in a timely manner." He smiled and rubbed his hand against a steel beam beside him.

"I'm not playing with you." She said instantly.

"Fine." he retorted coldly. "I'm here for, energy... And then perhaps, your soul." Eros placed a finger on his chin pretending to ponder his demands. He then raised his arms above his head as a golden light formed in his hands, bursting and taking the shape of a bow and arrow.

"Glad to know I was right about you being an Experiment. What's the name they gave you? Experiment-E? I know how clever the Dark Kingdom likes to be." Sailor V said smugly, holding her ground as she placed a hand to her waistline.

Eros chuckled under his breath and waggled a finger at V. "I like you girl, I feel close to you somehow. It's a shame I'll have to puncture that pretty little body." Eros pulled back on the arrow, aiming it at her slowly.

From her waistline Sailor V gripped onto a handle and pulled on it, her orange Sailor V whip uncoiling from her waist as she swung it at Eros. The nimble Experiment did a quick backflip and avoided the impact of the whip as it cracked against the ground. As he came back down he released the arrow that whistled through the air, V leapt to the side and the arrow embed itself into the ground with a loud crash.

"I wonder how many you'll be able to dodge; I used to have _quite_ the aim." He sneered and with another flash of light another golden arrow formed. Without wasting any time he fired it out, which V avoided by sliding behind a girder. She flinched as the arrow made a dent into the steel beam that came close to piercing.

"Do you know why I picked the construction zone?" Eros asked before he charged V, seemingly flying towards her after he leapt from the ground.

"I don't care, but I'm sure you'll tell me anyway." V coiled the whip around her hand before lashing it out towards Eros who dropped down to avoid it.

"Lots of simple minded humans to trick and drain energy from. Also I was warned about a whip wielding female that may try to stop me. So a construction zone with lots of low hanging beams and pipes means that, unlike in an open area, your whip radius is lessened." Eros' smile widened and V scoffed, glancing around her, realizing he was right; her whip would easily get caught on the beams.

"Surprise!" Eros appeared on a beam above V and pulled back on the bow, three golden arrows with spade shaped tips forming in it. Eros smiled firing them towards V who hit the ground and rolled away.

Springing to her feet she saw the beam bent under the force of the blows and began to run in zigzags as she heard the familiar whistling. She lunged for another beam to hide behind but shrieked as an arrow struck it first, she skidded to a halt and fell, clutching her whip tight.

"Where can I shoot you first?" Eros asked, leaping to a nearby beam and aiming another arrow at her. "Leg, arm, chest, or maybe that pretty little throat?"

Sailor V scrambled to her feet and narrowed her eyes at him. "You're sick." As she stood tall and took hold of the whip about halfway down its length and twirled it around.

"As death itself!" Eros retorted before leaping to Sailor V again, firing another arrow at her which Sailor V backed up to keep away from but only managed to back up against a girder. Eros took hold of a low beam and spun around it like a gymnast before propelling himself at V who dropped the end of her whip down beside herself before lashing it out, hitting Eros in the dead center of his face, but also caused him to release another arrow that went flying into the sky.

Eros hit the floor hard, rolling away out of V's strike range as he heard the whip come lashing down. Stopping on his back he fired a quick shot to her that V easily avoided and tore off, dashing through the building's steel skeleton.

"Don't run Sailor V, we're just getting started..." Eros said in a false sweet tone as gripped a beam to stand up. V rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her waistline again, gripping a second handle and pulling free a second whip which she used to wrap around a beam and swing herself up above Eros.

"Gotcha!" Eros jumped back and aimed for V who ran along the beam carefully avoiding it before jumping down and lashing out at him with both whips, each of them cracking against his face causing him to stumble back. His howl bellowed throughout the area and caused V to cover her ears as the ear splitting noise began hurting her head.

"I am going to devour your soul and then the soul of your little white haired boy too!" Eros growled and dropped his hands from his face, three welts forming on his cheeks.

"I would suggest finding some cover-up for that problem." Sailor V pointed at her own face while she mocked Eros. "But you won't be leaving here alive, what a shame you'll die so ugly!" Sailor V cracked her whips quickly and Eros shot two arrows at them, slicing through them like tissue paper and flying to Sailor V.

"You won't leave here, dead or alive brat!" Eros shouted as he came in closer.

Sailor V looked down to her whips that lay in several pieces while she ran her fingers over her ears. Moving her hair aside she flashed a pair of orange heart earrings.

"Nice earrings, too bad they won't save you!" Eros pulled back hard on the bow, a golden arrow forming on it that he quickly fired out.

Swearing, V jumped from the beam and listened to the whizzing of the arrow go flying past her. She crashed onto the ground rolling and stumbled to her feet and started off running again.

"Don't run!"

V shrieked hearing the arrows come flying for her and again when they struck into a nearby beam. As she zigzagged between girders off to the right she saw a flash of white dashing through the area.

"Artemis!" She screamed, getting the small cat's attention.

"Sailor V, follow me!" Looking back she saw Eros holding his arms up and she quickly dove off to the side to catch up to Artemis, hearing an arrow go soaring past her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." She said running along the cat. "But he destroyed my whips..." She looked back in disdain, but glad he was out of her sight. "We need help Artemis, where's the Guard?"

"They're dealing with something a little ways away from here, I'm not sure if they'll get here in time!" Artemis shouted while he dashed through the construction zone as fast as his feline legs would carry him.

"Artemis!"

From the distance he heard someone familiar call his name, glancing off to the right he saw a small black cat jumping up and down on top of a blonde girl's shoulder.

"Luna, cut it out before you fall! Who are you yelling at anyway?" Warrior Moon asked peering out ahead of her to find what Luna was so excited about. "Wait, what is that?"

"Sailor V c'mon!" Artemis tore from his path and veered to the right, Sailor V gave one last look behind her before following after him.

"Hurry up Moon!" Luna shouted and jumped from her shoulder and into the mass of steel beams towards the pair coming for them. "Artemis!" Luna cried happily as she and the white cat came in close, rubbing their heads together and circling each other.

"What?" Moon asked pitifully before noticing the blonde that was running with the cat. "Uh, hello?"

"Warrior Moon this is Minako Aino, otherwise known as Sailor V." Luna said, pushing a paw against Artemis who was a little too happy to see her.

"Sailor V?!" Moon's eyes went wide behind the mask with glee as she grabbed up Sailor V's hand and shook it wildly. "I'm such a fan! You're the coolest!"

"Heh - why thank you..." Sailor V said bashfully, a blush spreading across her face.

"Nice to meet you!" Moon rushed her and embraced her in a tight hug that Sailor V quickly returned. "I can't believe we found Sailor V!" Moon beamed. "Now I don't have to do all the work!"

"You've been Warrior Moon all of one day, what work have you done?" Luna reminded dryly and Artemis snickered.

"Shut up Luna! It feels way longer!"

"It's nice to meet you Warrior Moon." She heard an unfamiliar voice say; down beside Luna she saw the white cat smile at her.

Her shoulders dropped in defeat upon seeing Artemis. "Another talking cat..." She whined.

"This is Artemis; he's a member of the Guard and works alongside Sailor V." Luna nodded to them.

"So Sailor V is with the Silver Guard? That's so cool!"

"What are you doing out here Artemis?" Luna asked.

"Sailor V was following up on an Experiment she located in this area, why are you here?"

"We were checking out the House of Fortune, we found out an Experiment is controlling boys there and when we confronted her she fled to this area, but we lost her." Luna said urgently, looking about.

"Sailor V and I can take them!" Moon shouted proudly.

"Actually my whips are gone, so I won't be of much help..." She said wearily, catching Artemis's disapproving glare in the process.

"Oh... Then maybe we should leave this to the police." Moon chuckled.

"What a shame!" From up above two figures stood in the path of the moonlight, casting their shadows onto the quartet below. They jumped down and seemed to land gracefully onto the ground, despite their jumping height. Before them Eros and Psyche stood tall and surveyed their opponents.

"Run!" Luna commanded and she and Artemis sprinted ahead of the girls that followed, keeping their eyes on their enemies who weren't willing to let them escape so easily.

The four of them moved as a group through the girder maze, avoiding the occasional misguided arrow or keeping out of range of the high-pitched screech before coming upon a small building in the distance.

"Everyone head for that!" Artemis shouted and he and Luna sped up, Sailor V nodded but stopped in her tracks as she saw Warrior Moon disappear from beside her. She skidded to stop seeing her lying on the ground after tripping over a beam on the ground.

"Get up!" V shouted, running back to her and grabbing her arms. Above her she saw the figure of Eros leap onto a beam and fire an arrow down to them. She grunted and yanked a screaming Moon out of the way, the arrow striking down beside her leg.

"That could have hit me!" Moon cried as she scrambled to her feet. She and V sprinted off towards Luna and Artemis who were waiting beside the building entrance, shouting for them to hurry up. Upon reaching it V threw the door open and Moon rushed in first, only to slip and fall into V's unsuspecting arms.

"Watch it!" V groaned as she shoved Moon onto her feet.

"Oh my gosh!" Moon cried, trying to cover her breathing slit as she took in the condition of the room. Stacked on top of each other were bloodied bodies of the construction workers, their blood covered most of the walls and bloody handprints marked the windows.

V looked down to the door, blood lines dripped to the floor and bits of flesh and finger nails could be seen sticking out of the wood. "They must have been trapped inside..." She said with sorrow and pulled a trembling Moon out before slamming the door closed.

"Poor fools!" Eros dropped down a good yard away from the four and Psyche appeared soon after. "The clock really messed them up." He placed a finger to the side of his head and ran it in circles.

Luna leapt onto Moon's shoulder and peered into the room through a window, spotting a large oval-shaped black clock hanging on the halls. The glass face of it was broken and the arm of one of the workers was stuck on the glass.

Swallowing down a lump in her throat Warrior Moon stared down Eros. "What did it do to them?"

"Drove them mad, until the ticking, it became unbearable. Until their only escape was death." Eros aimed an arrow for her and fired, V slammed her foot into Moon's side, forcing her out of the way as the arrow ripped through the air between them and into the building.

"I won't allow you to hurt people like that again!" Moon shouted, stabbing her blade into the ground and forcing herself up.

"What do you think you're going to do to stop us?" Psyche challenged, opening her mouth wide, the familiar ear splitting screech emitting from it. Eros closed his eyes and smiled at the sound, finding it pleasant before readying another arrow.

"Warrior Moon, watch out!" Luna called through hooded eyes seeing Eros aim for her. Moon got to her feet and tried to block out the sound as she dodged the incoming arrow. She quickly charged for him, swinging her blade wildly and without precision which allowed Eros to evade each swinging with ease.

"How do you expect to cut anything with that form?" He asked smugly slamming a fist onto the blade and forcing it down, quickly forming an arrow he pressed to her mask. "How about we test the strength of this thing?"

Moon felt tears swell in her eyes and she began to tremble watching him aim the arrow point into her slash. From the side came a flash of white that stuck onto Eros' head, Artemis clawed at him and threw off his focus. Moon stumbled back and watched Psyche race to Eros but Moon swung her blade towards her and warded her off.

"Get off!" Eros ripped Artemis away and hurled him away; V dove to catch him and slid across the ground.

"Stay back you witch!" Moon shouted swinging her blade to Psyche, who was less skilled at dodging; each swing came dangerously close to slicing her.

"Bitch." Eros raised his arms as a larger arrow with a twisted point formed in the bow before aiming it for V and Artemis. V gripped something at her belt, a small compact she flipped open, and a blinding light burst it from it. Eros shielded his eyes for an instant and allowed V to get to her feet.

"Artemis, stay back!" She hissed.

"Then you have to help her!" He hissed back, motioning to Moon who was still swinging like a maniac at Psyche.

She nodded and brought her hands back up to her ears, gripping her earrings when the familiar whistling rushed past her, Eros' arrow flying through the gap of space between her arm and shoulder. Her eyes opened wide realizing how close he came and watched the man rub his eyes before preparing to fire another.

"I won't miss this time!"

"Crescent Shot!" V growled and dropped her hands to hold the compact out to Eros, a slender yellow flash of light erupted from it and pierced through the man's chest instantly.

"Good job Sailor V!" Artemis said coming up behind her. Venus stood in silence for a moment, watching Eros drop his arms and take notice of his wound.

Eros placed a hand over the crescent shaped hole that was leaking blood rapidly now. "I'll kill you." he coughed and brought his arms up, his bow and arrow forming instantly as he aimed to V again.

The girl squealed as the arrow shot out at her, grazing her shoulder as she dove for the ground. Eros closed the distance between them instantly and slammed his foot into her abdomen. V sputtered and rolled over onto her back as Eros situated himself over her. Keeping his weight down on her body he straddled her and formed another arrow, the tip pressing against her jugular.

"Warrior Moon!"

Moon heard Luna call her name, but she watched in silence, her mind taking her back to the night she watched Diarmuid pin Naru down, how she wasn't able to protect her no matter how hard she tried.

'_"I wish I could remember those words I heard." She groaned, furrowing her brow._

"_Moon Blade Slash." Luna said quickly._

"_That's it! Luna how'd you know?"'_

"Moon Blade..." Moon whispered, her blade radiating with power, glowing and become larger in her hands. She lifted it in front of her as the glow lingered on the blade, at its full length Moon could see it come to the length of a traditional western sword. It no longer had a flat blade and sharp point, but was equal in width from base to its smaller tip. She pulled the blade to her side and narrowed her eyes at Eros who hadn't seemed to notice her.

"Slash!" Warrior Moon swung the blade with every ounce of strength she could muster, the swinging blade released a flat white disc of energy at the height of its swing that flew from it and into Eros, bifurcating him instantly. Moon spun around from the force of her swing and jammed the blade into the ground, feeling it shrink in size again.

Sailor V watched in dismay as Eros' body separated into two bleeding chunks. Watching his upper half fall beside her she shoved the rest before she flipped over. A few yards away Moon was hunched over her blade breathing heavily. "Gross..."

"She did it." Luna said trotting up beside her.

"I did it..." Moon stood tall and panted.

"Well done Warrior Moon." Luna congratulated.

"Thanks I guess." Moon turned away from the body and turned to face the cat.

"Not over yet!" Sailor V reminded as she watched Psyche collapse on the ground.

"Right..." She nodded to herself and lowered herself into a battle stance, but stopped as she watched Psyche begin to weep.

"What's wrong with her?" Moon asked and Sailor V stepped up beside her.

"I'll kill you!" Psyche lunged from her spot and tackled Moon down, her lance falling down beside her, and Sailor V stood clueless as the two rolled away beside her.

Moon struggled to keep Psyche from getting too close to her, the once beautiful singer's mouth now stretching and ripping to reveal numerous sets of teeth she tried to bite into Moon with.

"Get her Moon!" Sailor V snapped, throwing punches in the air.

"I'm trying!" Moon crossed her arms over her chest and pressed them against Psyche, trying desperately to keep her mouth away from her. "Ahh!"

A sound similar to five simultaneous gunshots rang out nearby and in an instant Psyche's body stiffened and she jolted around, clawing at her back. Standing atop one of the steel girders stood a wobbly Tuxedo Mask with his cane extended and five small compartments opened and empty.

"Sorry I'm late Warrior Moon…" He sighed and pressed a hand against a beam beside him for support.

"Him again." Moon said softly, getting lost in the image of him standing as a dark figure against the bright moon.

Only Psyche's painful screaming brought her back to reality. From the girder Mask shook a scabbard off the end of his cane and leapt down, holding the now released sword at an angle to drive into Psyche's back as he came in closer. Moon watched terrified as the blade pierced through her, dripping blood down onto her and the exit wound began to turn black before cracking and spreading around her body.

Warrior Moon scooted back from the woman as she became nothing but a dark, almost ash like version of herself before collapsing and bursting into a pile of dust.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked as she trotted up beside her with Artemis.

"I'm fine."

"Tuxedo Mask!" Sailor V screamed and garnered the attention of the others who watched the masked savior stumble before falling over beside the dust pile.

"Tuxedo Mask…" Warrior Moon cooed as she rushed to his side, crouching beside him.

"Sailor V call the Guard." Artemis stated, glancing around the area.

"Right!" She winked and pulled the phone from her pocket and turned around.

Warrior Moon pulled Tuxedo Mask into her lap and brushed his hair from his forehead. She watched him carefully, his heavy breathing and sweat covered brow, but her eyes were more interested in the mask that shielded his identity.

"As curious as I am about the man behind this mask that's saved me twice..." She whispered, reaching a hand to the mask and taking hold of it. "I know how I would feel if someone found out who I was." She sighed and slid her hand down the side of his face. "So I guess I have to respect your disguise."

"They're on their way." Sailor V said, slipping her phone away. "Artemis, should we take him?" She gestured to the man in Moon's lap.

"Good idea Sailor V. Moon, come with me back to the House of Fortune to make sure the boys all head home." Luna offered and Moon let V stand Mask up and watched her lean him against a beam with some regret.

"Alright Luna" Moon said as Luna hopped onto her shoulder and they headed off through the area.

Standing in the distance were two of the three remaining Experiment-D-U-D clones, their eyes had been fixed on the scene within the construction zone since Sailor V had appeared.

"I suppose we'll be reporting this to Jadeite?" One of them asked.

"Of course, now that we know Sailor V's identity it's important to report, but now that she's met up with the first Cosmic Warrior, it's more crucial than ever."

* * *

End of Chapter Five  
**Note- **The scene in the construction zone was originally going to happen after Naru and Usagi's trip to Stack Attack, and they were running from an ogre and Sailor V rescued them. Obviously it went through a big change xD. Also when Eros mentions feeling close to Sailor V, it's a reference to him being Cupid, the son of Aphrodite, whose Roman counterpart is Venus.

* * *

Next, Usagi meets one of the Guard's associates and nearly ends up in the clutches of the Dark Kingdom. Will a love-struck Diarmuid save her life, and who is the beautiful shrine maiden he's admiring? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Six - Red Strings**


	6. Red Strings

**Cosmic Warriors  
**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, or their original owners, respectively.

**Note: ** Thanks always for the feedback and to JulietShadow and SadieSwirl for being my beta readers. Cosmic Warriors now has a TvTropes page, /Fanfic/CosmicWarriors. The link can also be found on my profile.

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX - Red Strings**

* * *

Friday night after defeating Eros and Psyche, Usagi only managed to get a glimpse of the Silver Guard, and that glimpse was a small fleet of black vehicles that ripped through the streets on their way to the construction zone. Luna promised her a chance to meet with them soon, but for now they had more pressing matters.

After they returned to the House of Fortune they found the boys that were passed out inside wandering around the property, confused as ever. Seeing that her work was done Usagi trudged home where she received an earful for being out so late, not telling her parents where she'd gone, and why she was carrying a stray cat.

The next morning Usagi gave Motoki a call and found out he'd taken a leave of absence from work, and wouldn't give her a good reason as to why. Usagi then decided to spend the day in bed, but Luna was against her wasting the day away and suggested some strength training, but both plans were thrown out the window when Usagi's newest friend, Makoto, stopped by. Word travels fast and Makoto had heard about Naru's incident and wanted to go visit her, she'd heard she was Usagi's best friend. Although it wasn't her idea of a relaxing Saturday morning, seeing Naru was still something fun to do.

After a quick shower and shoveling some cereal into her mouth she met with Makoto at the arcade and from there they headed to the hospital. The girls spent all morning with Naru, gabbing about school and filling her in on Umino's outrageous actions. Naru was just as shocked as Usagi was when she heard he flipped up their teacher's skirt.

While the girls wasted away their morning chatting and wolfing down snacks Mako had brought, across town at the top of a series of steps, starting at the street and ending at the entrance to the Hikawa Shrine, a young girl stood by herself.

In between the legs of the Shinto gate she stood, feet shoulder width apart, and watched a scene play out below her. Hoards of girls filing into a bus numbered 66 and ushering them inside was a new worker at the shrine. As the early September wind picked up it blew her purple tinted hair back, dark stands waving about wildly as the cool air passed through it.

At her waist was a large red bow that kept her equally red split hakama pants tight on her midsection, stopping at her ankles they revealed white socks and off yellow sandals. The wild sleeves of her white haori, held close by her ribbon, flapped back with the wind as well. In her hands she clutched a bow, one that had been created especially for her once she had become an official miko at the shrine.

The nipping chill in the air or the intensity of the wind didn't faze her. Neither did the squawking of her two pet crows, Phobos and Deimos, who were circling the gate legs. The only thing on her mind was the bus, now filled with passengers she watched the vehicle come to life, the tail lights lit up and the roar of the engine sounded like a soft purr from where she stood.

As the wind began to die down she closed her eyes, an image presenting itself behind her lids; a fire. She watched in her mind's eye as the fire flickered and made the shadows in the room dance. One of them stood out to her more than the others, a darker shadow that had a will of its own. It rose up from the floor, pasting itself across the wall behind the fire and began to take on a new shape. An amorphous figure with what she'd call a thick body, ending in jagged and uneven points.

Sitting in the same room was a woman, dressed down in beautiful red gown that was mostly covered with silver armor, along with small intricate purple details. She watched the woman hold her hand out and instantly an unrecognizable symbol came alive in her palm, it seemed to be made of fire; it moved and reacted just like it.

From the ember formed a large bow, much like the one she was holding, albeit it was made of fire. It didn't seem to affect the woman though; she held it all the same. On the wall the figure danced around, a face began to take form, two wild red eyes and a crooked mouth. All of which opened wide at the sight of the woman who was now standing.

The woman placed a hand to the bow and pulled back, a bright arrow forming a second later, from the fire itself. Rei furrowed her brow as she struggled to concentrate; the shadow on the wall lurched forward and the woman fired a single shot, through what one would guess would be its head.

Suddenly her vision blurred and the image vanished, leaving only a dull brownish colour until she opened her eyes again, the city under her now seeming more vibrant than before. In the distance she could see the bus nearing the end of the street and making its turn. She knew it would be best to follow it, but whatever dangers surrounded that bus, she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to handle them alone.

In the bus that had just left the Hikawa Shrine against the back Experiment-D-U-D, Diarmuid, stood quietly. The rest of the bus that was full of loud chattering girls who were all busy talking about their good luck charms. He closed his eyes, hoping to block out their noise but snapped them back open when an encroaching chill appeared beside him. Jadeite appeared on the bus a moment later, crouching down against the floor.

"Sir." Diarmuid said and wrapped a hand under his arm to pull him up. Jadeite yanked his arm free, but only after he was standing and cast the Experiment a deadly glare. Diarmuid instantly fell back against the interior wall and closed his eyes again, allowing Jadeite to move past him and into the aisle.

He then shared his glare with the rest of the bus, over twenty rows of chatting and giggling girls, it made him sick. The girls were fawning over their good luck charms, a small amulet covered by a white cloth with letters sown into it with a gold thread. The top was secured shut by a long white string that the girls were wearing around their wrists. Jadeite flared his nostrils before lifting a hand and stretching his fingers out, in the hands of the girls their good luck charms came to life, glowing a deep purple and lifting out of their grasps.

"What is this?" One asked, while the girls behind her started to scream.

"Pathetic…" Jadeite uttered before quickly bringing his fingers back in to make a fist. The floating charms again reacted to him and slammed onto the foreheads of the passengers, and thick white fabric burst free from the charms and wrapped around their heads several times over.

Though their attempts to tear it off proved useless the girls never stopped trying, many fell from their seats in their blind fury and others simply bellowed out muffled screams.

Diarmuid watched stoically as the flare of energy the girls displayed quickly died down as the charms finished encasing their heads. Jadeite smiled and dropped his hand after watching the last girl fall limp in her seat. He slowly progressed down the aisle, glancing around slightly to see the girls slumped over with the bandages on their heads and the rectangular _charm _glowing brighter each second with every ounce of energy it was siphoning.

As he headed to the front of the bus a girl beside him slid out of her seat and bumped against him. Fixing his face into a look of disgust he slammed a glowing hand onto the head of the girl, a loud explosion followed the impact and the now headless corpse slumped over in her seat.

"Kigaan, let's go." He commanded and the bus driver turned back to him, an evil grin plastered across her face as tipped off her cap to him.

Slowly she turned back around and gripped the steering wheel as sparks of dark electricity raced around it and soon the entire dashboard. The bus then gained momentum before the front wheels left the ground, Jadeite gripped two seats beside him for support, a moment later the rest of the bus was up and flying through the air.

"Experiment-D-U-D."

"Sir." Diarmuid addressed.

"Has everything at the shrine been going smoothly?"

"Yes, as you requested I've become a temporary worker there and as you can see the good luck charms have been selling well." Diarmuid continued. "Just as you expected, hoards of young girls are swarming to the shrine to get them, after that I lead them all onto the bus you've provided for their _transportation_."

"So you've had no problems at the shrine?" Jadeite prodded, unwilling to believe everything was going as smoothly as he wished.

"No problems to report sir."

"Good." he replied warily. "We're dealing with several projects at the moment and it is of the upmost importance they all run smoothly." Jadeite moved forward through the bus to the very front and glared out of the window, they had left Tokyo and were floating over another city. Clueless humans wandered around below, all speaking a language far different than Japanese.

They slowly began to descend, past a crumbling exterior stone wall with gaping holes in it. As they flew through an opening that was created by the structure's decay, they passed a similar inner wall and the bus lowered into an arena.

"Take us down here." Jadeite said. Kigaan nodded and the bus lowered until the wheels met with the dusty earth inside, slowing to a stop inside a ring of crumbling stone pillars and a gang of monsters.

Diarmuid stared down at his feet, a somber expression crossing his face as the image of the shrine maiden crossed his mind. "No problems…" He sighed as his body began to flicker and soon vanished from the bus, reappearing a moment later a few feet away, at the door to the bus where monsters were beginning to congregate.

"Back up, back up." He shouted throwing his arms out to signal to the hungry monsters this wasn't their time to eat. "Back up!" One monster seemed determined to defy him, he quickly spun around, tearing a sword from his back and sliced of one arm of the beast. The monster, resembling an ogre groaned and cupped the wound before staggering away.

Behind him the door to the bus opened and Jadeite snapped his fingers, the group of beasts instantly bowed in submission at the sight of their master.

"Experiment-D-U-D and Kigaan, get the girls off the bus and have it ready for the next wave." He commanded and waved them both off, Diarmuid bowed before he hopped into the bus and followed Kigaan to the back.

"The rest of you," he added sharply. "if any of these girls are harmed before their energy is done being drained and collected." He spoke slow, but with precision to emphasize each word. "I will personally lop your heads off, dip them in oil, and use them as torches to light Queen Beryl's dinner hall." He stepped up to the ogre that Diarmuid had accosted. "Do you understand?"

"Sir." Diarmuid stated, catching Jadeite's attention. "What about the corpse? We can't gather anymore energy from it. The charm was destroyed."

"Ah." Jadeite held a hand out and curled his fingers in, the body of the headless girl flowing out of one of the open windows and floating above the eldritch crowd. "I suppose you get a treat after all."

The ogre as well as the rest of the group nodded fiercely as Jadeite dropped his hand. The invisible force holding the girl's body vanished and she limply fell into the crowd. Within a second claws and thick hands were gripping her body and the sound of teeth and nails digging into flesh could be heard from the group.

"I'll leave the rest to you." Jadeite said to Kigaan and Diarmuid who were tossing out the bodies' one at a time before he vanished.

"I'll stay," Kigaan offered as Diarmuid was ready to hop outside. "get back to the shrine." He nodded in understanding before his body vanished from the arena.

As Kigaan shut the doors she noticed the group of monsters was watching her with hungry eyes, many of their mouths stained red, wanting more. Kigaan gave the monsters a dangerous glare as she knocked her cap off, red hair falling down her back and her skin changing into a sick pea green. "You heard Jadeite, you so much as touch them and you're dead!" Several of the monsters growled in disapproval and began to disperse as Kigaan started lining up the unconscious girls near the pillars.

Back in Tokyo the shrine maiden had swapped her bow for a broom and was busy tidying up the shrine steps when Diarmuid reappeared at the bottom. He watched her move about with a sense of urgency in his eyes, he tilted his head left and right each time she changed the direction in which she was sweeping. He was content on watching her move until from the corner of her eye she spotted him.

"What are you doing down there?" Rei Hino, the beautiful shrine maiden with long raven hair and a fiery spirit, shouted from the top of the steps.

Diarmuid smiled and began to race up the steps, taking them two at a time. "I was seeing another group of visitors off." He replied slyly.

"And you're back so soon?" Rei asked looking him up and down. The man had come to the shrine Friday night looking for work and grandpa was too enthusiastic in hiring him after hearing his idea to bring in young female customers. The following day he had set up a small shack on the property to sell lucky charms and business had been booming since.

Rei took notice of the white haori he was wearing and how it still wasn't fitting his body right, or perhaps he had removed the hemming she'd done on purpose. She narrowed her eyes at him as he stood stoically watching her with his strange eyes.

"You better get ready; the afternoon rush of girls will be here soon." she reminded. "I'll be out back practicing." She slammed the broom into his chest and headed off.

"Do you think I could watch?" He asked following after her.

"I think your time would be better spent doing your job." She snapped coldly, giving him an equally cold look over her shoulder. "And I don't feel safe around you." She muttered and quickly snatched up her bow that she'd left near a tree before heading across the property.

With a sigh Diarmuid's shoulders dropped as he turned back to head towards the charm shack to start business for the day.

* * *

The following day Makoto and Usagi were heading down the street after stopping at OSA-P. "Do you think Naru will like her present?" Makoto asked.

"I hope so; I really wanted to get her something she'd like for when she comes home." Usagi smiled to her friend as they turned a corner.

"When is that exactly?" Makoto asked, tapping her chin.

"I think she's coming home either later tonight or tomorrow morning. Either way she should be back at school Monday." Usagi beamed, happy to have her friend back at school.

"So now what...?" Makoto asked glumly, they hadn't made any definite plans yet and noon was fast approaching.

"I'm kind of hungry." Usagi whined and rubbed her stomach when the sound of a girl's scream reached her from behind; they spun around and were almost knocked off their feet as a group of three snickering boys rushed past them.

"Watch it!" Makoto howled and snatched up two of them by their collars while Usagi looked further back to see Ami on the ground, surrounded by a pile of her schoolbooks.

"Oh, Ami!" Usagi hurried to her and as she came in close she could hear the girl crying as she tried to collect everything. Usagi froze in her spot; she'd never expected to see Ami crying over something like this. "Hey Ami, you okay?" She asked, scrunching up her face as she squatted down and began to help her gather up her supplies.

"Why do you care?" Ami asked harshly, snatching a notebook away from her. Usagi flinched at the question and thought back to Saturday when she and Makoto were leaving the arcade and heading to the hospital, they had run into Ami then too. Not only had Usagi refused to talk to her, but Makoto had invited her to come see Naru and she told Ami there wouldn't be any room in the hospital room for her.

In her defense it was all Luna's advice, keeping her distance from Ami as Usagi Tsukino would be for the best, but keeping an eye on her as Warrior Moon was necessary. But even so, maybe this was going too far, they still didn't have any proof Ami was behind the attack on OSA-P or the homes.

"Sorry Ami…" Usagi said, with all the things she wanted to apologize for in her head. She sighed and continued to gather up some papers as she heard Makoto yelling at the boys behind her. The two stood up and Usagi handed off the rest of her supplies and Ami wiped off her skirt.

"So... Are you busy?"

"Why?" She asked warily, adjusting her book stack.

"Just wondering if you might want to hang out with Makoto and I for the day, we don't have any homework this weekend so you don't have any excuse to say no." Usagi said; she knew Ami would try to back out.

Ami's eyes opened wide hearing that. "You really want to hang out with me?" she asked shocked.

"Definitely! Take it as part of my apology for being so mean to you yesterday." Usagi smiled and linked arms with Ami.

A tint of pink filled Ami's cheeks and a smile played across her lips. "W-Where were you thinking of going?"

"Can we go to the Hikawa Shrine?" Makoto interjected from up the sidewalk, she still had hold of the boys, but they soon ripped themselves out of her grasp.

"The what?" Usagi asked with raised eyebrows.

"I don't know, that's where those guys said they were heading off to." Makoto strolled up to them, giving Ami a wink and gesturing back to the boys.

"I heard girls are disappearing after visiting there..." Ami added Usagi's expression changed to shocked before she continued. "Don't you watch the news? It's all they've been talking about, disappearing girls and a strange bus."

"Then maybe we should find someplace else to go!" Usagi squeaked.

"Don't be so chicken!"

"O-Okay…" Usagi whimpered, although she wouldn't admit it, Makoto scared her. She'd shared a story of being kicked out of her previous school for fighting, a fact she would have liked to know the moment they met.

"We can get a good luck charm there!" Makoto beamed linking arms with Ami.

"Will good luck charms help me pass algebra?"

"I don't see why not!" Makoto continued. "I bet they work in love too, we can get love letters in our lockers and have boyfriends!"

"Love letters?!" Ami screeched as a bead of sweat ran down her forehead.

"Maybe Motoki will ask me out!" Usagi drooled. "Or at least talk to me after we get them. He's been missing from work..." Usagi's happiness quickly faded as she sighed and looked at her feet.

"Cheer up; it's probably just boy stuff Usagi." Mako added, jabbing her with her elbow. The blonde smiled and hoped it was true.

Back at the shrine Rei had spent the rest of her morning firing arrows at trees or dodging out of sight whenever she saw Diarmuid coming, who had been _pretending _to be sweeping. After her arm began to feel tense she opted for something more relaxing, meditating over fire.

"Cleansing flames provide me with your guidance..." Rei sat on her legs in front of a blazing fire, behind her the sliding doors of the building were open ajar and she was beginning to regret it. "I feel a strange force approaching."

The thought of the doors being open crossed her mind again. Several times she felt eyes on her, but getting up to close them would break her concentration. Concentration she would need if she was ever going to understand the rumors swarming around the shrine regarding the missing girls.

In her mind she began to see the steps of the shrine, as if she herself were walking up them. To the sides she could hear faint voices that she wasn't able to identify, or even tell what they were saying.

Rei furrowed her brow as the image started to become clearer, she could make out every detail of the scene, the top of the steps, the buildings, she could see Diarmuid _sweeping_. Whoever's vision she was seeing through, they were outside the shrine right now!

Strolling across the shrine property the trio of girls looked over everything in wonder. The grounds were clear of any leaves that one would normally find lying around this time of the year. All of the buildings looked as if they'd been washed recently and everything on the grounds seemed to be in order.

Ami noticed a tall man near a small shack off to the right and from the corner of her eye a much smaller man came trotting to them. "Uh... Usagi?" She said, tugging on her friend's arm. Usagi glanced around before the small man stopped directly in front of them.

"Welcome ladies!" The small man, dressed in what looked like shrine clothes made for a child, announced to them, slapping a stack of paper talismans against his hand. "What brings _fine_ girls like you to the Hikawa Shrine this evening?"

Usagi stared down at the man with an uneasy feeling, even Ami was wary of getting too close to him. Makoto seemed to be the only one that didn't find him creepy; she even bent over to get into his face when she spoke to him. "We came for the good luck charms old man."

In the distance Diarmuid's ears perked up at the mention of his charms. He smiled and gathered up a handful before heading over.

"Are you sure that's all I can do for you ladies?" The small man asked. "What about a special luck charm, I'll perform the ceremony myself!"

"It's best not to pester young women master." Diarmuid said coolly, approaching from behind. The sound of his voice sent a chill down Usagi's spine; she whipped around, along with Makoto and Ami and spread her arms out to the sides to protect them.

"Oh hello there." Ami said shyly.

"Y-You work here?" Makoto seemed to be lost in another world after seeing him again.

Usagi stared at him with an intense glare, knowing she had to get the others away from him, but her knees were shaking and her legs felt as if they'd give out on her any minute now.

Inside the meditation room Rei clenched her fists as she saw images of grandpa, Diarmuid, and two girls she'd never seen before flash through her mind. She realized she was seeing this through the eyes of the approaching evil. Whatever was outside was too close to let it go on any longer. Digging a hand inside her haori Rei pulled out a long white tag used for repelling evil. She held it up straight and stared down at the writing along the front.

"Did I hear you say you wanted good luck charms?" Diarmuid asked innocently, holding up precisely three of them to the girls.

"Thank you, that's very kind." Ami said, taking the first one and running her hand over it. With a shaky hand Makoto took hers and mumbled a thank you.

"And you?" he asked, his voice dropping down from the pseudo-polite tone he was using when he spoke to Usagi. He dangled the last charm in front of her face, before snatching up her hand, much to the shock of Ami and Makoto, and stuffed the charm inside it. "Don't be shy."

"EVIL SPIRIT, BEGONE!" From behind the group came the voice of a girl that was storming out of the meditation room. She flew across the courtyard before anyone could understand what was happening and threw herself into the middle of the group.

"Who's she?" Makoto asked, now snapping out of her trance.

"Rei, my dear child, what are you doing?" Grandpa asked as he watched Rei hold her hand up high, soon slapping it down onto Usagi's forehead. The tag sticking and sending the blonde girl toppling over into the arms of the Experiment.

"That girl is an evil spirit grandpa! Get back everyone!" Rei stepped ahead of the girls and grandpa, whipping out another tag and waiting for the girl to react to the first. Diarmuid stared blankly at the girl in his arms, Usagi's eyes rolled back and her skin was becoming pale.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Ami asked. After waiting a minute for something to happen Usagi's body became limp and then slid from the man's grasp.

"I-guess-she-wasn't-evil..." Rei stuttered and felt her cheeks heat up. "My mistake!" She burst out laughing and rubbed the back of her head, stuffing the tag into the back of her haori.

"I'll take twoooo more scoops of the chocolate chunk chocolate ice cream please with extra chocolate..." Usagi cooed. "And a slice of caaaake."

"She's lost it!" Makoto said shaking her head, she then scooped Usagi up in her arms and began to shake the blonde. "Snap out of it Usagi!"

"Oooohhh what hit me?" Usagi moaned becoming alert, not only to her surroundings, but to the throbbing in her head.

"That was me, sorry." Rei waved sheepishly. "I've been sensing some evil near the shrine, and the feeling got stronger just a minute ago, it was like I was looking through the eyes of the evil." Rei looked around her to everyone else. "And I could see all of them, everyone except you."

"So you figured you'd whack me on the head?!" Usagi screeched, getting so close into the girl's face they nearly head-butted.

"I said I was sorry!" Rei screamed back before she growled at the girl.

"Well, say it again!"

"NO!"

Usagi huffed and stuck her tongue out at the girl to which the raven-haired girl mimicked her. The two remained like that for a minute, waggling their tongues and making buzzing sounds at each other.

"Alright you two, break it up." Makoto intervened and placed hands on their shoulders to force them apart, Ami looked embarrassed to be there with Usagi by now.

"Who are you all anyway?" Rei asked skeptically looking at the girls.

"I'm Makoto Kino, but you could call me Mako if you like." she answered swiftly.

"Ami Mizuno, pleased to meet you." she gave a quick bow of the head to the shrine miko.

"The name's Usagi. Usagi Tsukino." Usagi jabbed a finger at Rei and shot her a dirty glare.

"Miss Rei." the girls all shifted their attention to Diarmuid who was standing a few feet away, as if patiently waiting for something. "It seems as if your sacred fire has died down. Would you like me to get another one started?" With the nod of his head he signaled them to the meditating room; inside Rei could no longer see the flame that normally would have been visible from all the way across the yard.

With a sigh Rei turned back to the worker. "No, it's fine. I think I need to take a break from it anyway, nothing is making sense anymore." Rei rubbed her forehead and made a quick clicking sound with her tongue, from the trees came two black crows that soon circled over Rei before landing on an extended arm. "I'll be out back practicing."

"The nerve of some people..." Usagi muttered as Rei walked away from the group to the side of the meditating room.

"Excuse me," Ami spoke up. "what's she going to practice?" she looked back to Rei who stopped at the side of the building before she disappeared behind it.

"Archery." Grandpa answered, scaring the girls who had almost forgotten he was there. "It's Rei's favorite hobby, and she's quite good at it."

"Sounds cool, do you think she'd mind if we watched?" Makoto asked, impressed such a pretty girl would be interested in something like that.

"I don't think she would, but let me know if you girls want some company okay?" Grandpa waved the stack at them as they began to shuffle off away from him.

"Will do old man!" Makoto called back as the girls booked it towards the back of the building. Usagi gave the yard one glance before it was out of sight, watching Diarmuid scowl at her from across the distance.

Behind the meditating room was a small area that had been set up for the sole purpose of practicing archery. Lined against the building were a series of bows in all shapes and sizes, along with quivers filled with arrows. There were several wooden polls fashioned to be used as targets with red X's painted on them as well.

"Wow, this is amazing." Mako exclaimed and broke Rei's focus as she fired an arrow, making it miss the target and fly into the wooded area off to the left. The girls listened to the arrow whiz through the trees and break off branches before a harsh hiss reached them.

"I think you may have hit something..." Ami said with great concern and tried to peer through the trees. As the girls waited for some kind of sign from within the foliage came a harsh and low hissing sound.

A dark flash flew out of the trees and landed atop one of the target poles, perched on it was Luna. Usagi's eyes opened wide with joy at seeing the cat who was now swatting at Phobos and Deimos.

"Shoo! Get out of here stupid cat!" Rei swatted at the feline with her bow, wanting it to leave her crows alone before she heard the blonde girl call out a name. In the matter of a second the cat's demeanor seemed to change and it leapt off the pole and into Usagi's arms.

"Is that your cat?" Rei asked skeptically, seeing her nuzzle with the cat before it climbed onto her shoulders.

"It's Luna! Hi there..." Ami reached a hand out warily to her which proved to be a mistake as Luna swatted at her.

"She doesn't seem very friendly." Makoto added, shaking her head, not even wanting to attempt to pet her.

"She's nice to me." Usagi said, scratching under Luna's chin and listening to the cat purr that seemed to calm her nerves.

"So." Rei tapped her foot impatiently watching the three of them. "Are you done interrupting my practice?"

"Oh, sorry we just wanted to watch. Archery sounds really cool!" Makoto said, looking over the array of bows that Rei had.

"Actually you guys stay and watch, I'm gonna – go to the bathroom!" Usagi sputtered before creeping off to the side of the building.

"Usagi!" Luna hissed once she was sure they were safe, Usagi crept inside the meditation room and they planted themselves in front of the dying embers.

"I know, I'm sorry!" she whined back, she already knew what Luna was thinking.

"Why are you here with Ami, and who is that other girl?" Luna demanded.

"Her name is Makoto, but you can call her Mako." Usagi started and Luna began to hiss again. "She's a friend from school, we stopped at OSA-P this morning and then found Ami and somehow we ended up here... It was Mako's idea."

"Honestly Usagi, you never cease to surprise me. You're frolicking with the enemy on the Guard's very own temple."

"The Guard?"

"Yes. The old man who runs the shrine along with his granddaughter are both members of the Silver Guard, and you've brought a potentially dangerous enemy onto the property!"

Usagi furrowed her brow and snatched up Luna. "C'mere."

"Usagi, put me down this instant!" Luna hissed and nipped her finger.

"Shh Luna! He'll hear you!" Usagi flicked Luna on her head before sliding the doors open and holding the cat up to look outside. "You see him?"

"I do!" Luna growled, spotting the man in question handing out charms to a few girls that were fawning over him. "Usagi, what have you gotten yourself into?"

"I wish I knew..." The girl gave a big shrug. "He was here when we showed up, so Luna what do we do?"

"Let's head back to the others for now." Luna answered and hopped onto her shoulder.

"Right." she agreed exiting the building. "Wait Luna, why are you here anyway?"

Luna kept her eyes on Diarmuid for as long as she could before they were on at the side of the building. "The disappearing buses, the Guard want answers."

"Then how come Rei isn't handling it?" Usagi retorted dryly.

"Handling what?!" The girl in question barked as Usagi stepped back into the training area. "Are you talking to yourself?"

Usagi scrunched up her face and snorted. "Of course not!" Her eyes darted from side to side, catching glimpses of Makoto practicing holding a bow and Ami examining the accuracy of Rei's shots. "So Rei, what do you know about those disappearing girls?"

Luna dropped her shoulders; Usagi had the skills of a cabbage when it came to being subtle and getting answers.

Rei's eyes opened wide at the mention of it before she turned her back on Usagi. "Don't tell me, you think it's the fault of the shrine too?"

"I don't know whose fault it is, that's kinda why I asked." Usagi rolled her eyes at the girl, not liking her tone at all, before she plopped down on the ground.

Rei spent the next couple of hours or so answering questions and regurgitating just about everything she knew about the buses. Including the bus number, the date it all had started happening and all the theories that had been circling around about the cause. She became particularly fiery anytime a mention of the shrine's cooperation in the matter came to light. Even after explaining everything the girl's still had questions that Rei answered to her chagrin, mostly for Usagi who seemed to ask the worst questions.

The girls had chattered for a while, so long in fact the sun had begun to set and Ami to reminded them all they had school in the morning. Usagi whined about having to wake up early and then began to think about all the homework she neglected to do the previous week as she Ami, Rei, and Makoto headed to the bus stop.

"So, if we stay away from bus number 66 we should be alright?" Makoto asked, thinking it all over in her mind.

"I believe so. I sure hope those girls turn up soon." Ami said, to which Usagi nodded in agreement while rubbing Luna's head. "Their families must be terribly worried." Ami added and Usagi heard Luna snort, obviously not believing Ami's concern was genuine.

"Why are you here again?" Usagi asked to Rei with hooded eyes. The girl was standing a considerable distance away from them and staring at a pad of paper.

"I have to make a trip to get some things for school, as if it was any of your business." she scoffed back.

At the top of the shrine steps Diarmuid watched the girls who were now standing at the bus stop sign. In his mind he felt a disruption before Jadeite's voice pierced through his silence.

_I see a few girls are waiting, I'm sending the bus._

"That won't be necessary, there's only four of them." he replied quietly, even though Jadeite was communicating telepathically, talking to him would rely the message back all the same.

_Nonsense! All energy is needed for our plan!_

Instantly Diarmuid felt a static in his ears before his blood ran cold. His eyes then began to roll back and his body twitched, whatever Jadeite was doing to him he felt like his skull was splitting in two.

_Don't ever question my authority!_

In an instant the pain was gone and Diarmuid nearly fell down the steps as the relief swept over him. He took in a heavy breath of air and watched the girls before touching his fingers to his lips, feeling something warm run over them. Pulling his hand away he rubbed his fingers together; a thick dark red liquid was coating his fingers and running from his nose.

"Blood." he assured himself before his focus was broken by the cawing of crows and then the roar of an engine. He glanced up and sure enough there was a bus, bus 66, coming around the corner. He closed his eyes and his body instantly vanished from the spot, reappearing down behind near the bus stop, but far enough away that the girls wouldn't notice his presence.

"C'mon it's cold!" Usagi whined and began to hop up and down, watching the bus putter slowly towards them.

Diarmuid stayed where he was and waited until the bus had come to the stop and the door creaked open before moving in closer.

"Hey, did anyone see the number for this bus?" Makoto asked she boarded and plopped into a seat in the middle.

"WHAT?!" Usagi screeched. "I totally forgot to look!"

"I think it was 12." Ami replied taking a seat across from her.

"Whatever! Let's just go I'm cold!" Rei groaned, bumping against Usagi as she moved past her to sit down behind them.

"How come we're the only ones on?" Usagi asked, sitting with Makoto now.

"It's late you airhead." Rei mocked. "This is probably the last bus for the night." she was still reading her pad of paper.

As the bus driver started to close the door a man's hand slipped into the path of the door and forced it open. The driver smiled to Diarmuid as he hopped up inside before she closed the door.

Usagi bit the inside of her cheek and wondered why he was here. Was he going to try something on the bus? She shifted in her seat at seeing Diarmuid board along with them.

Diarmuid scanned the back of the bus quickly before crouching down to whisper to the driver.

"Jadeite said to drop this group off at the regular bus stop, they didn't get any charms and he isn't coming for them..." he lied.

"If you say so." The driver replied grizzly and pulled away from the stop, taking the girls and the Experiment through the dying city streets.

Forty-five minutes and four stops later, the last of the girls had gotten off the bus at their destination. Usagi cast Diarmuid a glare as he watched her head down the sidewalk. She waited until the bus was out of the sight before she started doing any real walking, not wanting him to see her heading to her house.

"Luna, tell me why you didn't want me attacking him on the bus?"

"Too risky and besides, I had a strange feeling when all of you girls were together earlier..."

"Don't tell me you think Makoto AND Rei are evil?! Although... I wouldn't mind fighting Rei." Usagi contemplated the idea of vanquishing the girl with Moon Blade Slash.

"Don't be ridiculous." she scoffed. "It was something more powerful than the feeling I had around Ami..."

Back on the bus Diarmuid was leaning against one of the poles at the front and Kigaan was pulling into a deserted street.

"It's a shame this was a wasted trip." Kigaan said, slipping her cap off, her mangy red hair falling free after she did. She gripped the steering wheel and the bus began to lift off the empty street and fly through the air. "What do you think D-U-D?"

She turned back to the man but opened her eyes at what she saw. From his chest a thick collection of dark purple dust was gathering and slowly spreading to cover his body. She gave him a wide eyed look before nodding to him, his body and the particles disappearing soon after.

A moment later in the depths of the Dark Kingdom the same cloud of dust appeared before Queen Beryl and from it emerged Diarmuid. He glanced around him, before him sat Beryl, behind him was Jadeite who looked displeased and further beyond him was two of his own clones, gripping golden spears.

"Why-"

"SILENCE!" Beryl commanded, the sheer magnitude of her voice caused the pressure in the room to increase, all of the Experiment clones were forced painfully onto the ground. Only Jadeite had enough sense to see it coming and easily crouched down into a bowing position before his queen. "Why have you disobeyed your master Experiment-D-U-D?"

Diarmuid slowly looked around him to catch Jadeite's deadly gaze, he knew exactly why he was here. "There were only four girls my Queen. I didn't think it was necessary to waste a trip on them." With his body under the constant pressure of Beryl's power and the hard stone ground, even speaking was difficult for him. "None of them bought the charms anyway..."

Beryl clenched her fists before stretching her fingers, as if deciding whether she wanted to strike him on the spot or let him live. With a soft exhale the pressure forcing them all down dissipated and each of them rose to their feet again.

"For your sake no one important had better been on the bus." Jadeite reminded.

"A Cosmic Warrior, a Silver Guard member as well as the black cat that serves as an advisor to the former, were all on that bus your majesty. As well as two additional girls, all of which had in fact received charms." The two clones standing in the back spoke up at once, bypassing Jadeite and speaking directly to Queen Beryl.

Fire came alive in her eyes the moment she understood exactly what had occurred. "You purposely let them go!" She howled.

"How do you two know that?" Jadeite demanded.

"We share the same field of vision, should we chose." The clone to the left took a step forward towards Diarmuid.

"We noticed him becoming friendly with the shrine wench, and decided to keep an eye on him." The second clone stepped forward and along with the former was now circling their rebel brother.

"Is that it?" Jadeite spat. "You let them get away because you have a crush on a human woman?!" he pulled back a hand, a dark energy glowing around it instantly.

"Jadeite." Beryl commanded and the Shitennou dropped his hand. "No need to soil your hands..." she stretched her arm out to Diarmuid before coiling her fingers in. Below him a dark square formed on the ground and began to rise up, quickly forming a box around him that obscured his vision of the rest of the room.

The two remaining clones stepped away from the box warily, as did Jadeite. When Beryl clenched her fist a painful cry broke out from within and caused all in attendance other than the queen to jolt.

"Dismissed." Beryl cast her gaze to the remaining Experiments who took the hint and disappeared from her sight, sinking down into the floor.

"My Queen, perhaps this was for the best." Jadeite started to reason, staring at the black box, truly curious as to what hell he was experiencing inside. "Should the Cosmic Warrior have been taken to our lair in Europe, she would have led the Guard straight to it."

"Had you been doing your job!" Beryl bellowed, before Jadeite saw her, Beryl has flown out of her seat and had a firm grip on his neck. The cold skin on her hands seemed to freeze his own skin and sent waves of a sobering energy through him, as if his energy was being sapped and death was approaching. "THE COSMIC WARRIOR WOULD ALREADY BE DEAD!" Her voice echoed, not only in the cavern but through his mind, shaking him from reality and sending him spiraling into another time and place.

When she had released him he wasn't sure of, he only knew he had ended up on the floor, finding it hard to breathe normally anymore.

"Leave my sight Jadeite, before you suffer a fate worse than death itself." Beryl snapped her fingers and the black box vanished.

The butchered body of Diarmuid fell limply from inside and landed beside Jadeite, causing the man to shriek and crawl away. The body had been stripped of its clothes and barely resembled its former self, skin was dangling off bone, and any that was left intact had deep cuts all over it.

Blood was spreading from a pool around the body and to top it off, the clone was still alive, twitching in his own gore. Jadeite staggered to his feet as the chunks of flesh turned black and began to break off into dust. Jadeite shuttered and covered his mouth before he vanished from the cavern.

Beryl stirred in her seat and watched the clone turn his head towards her, mouthing something she cared not to acknowledge as the body turned into dust that filled the cavern.

* * *

It was early Monday morning, the day had just begun not even five hours ago, but the streets were alive. A small black cat sprinted down the streets; following her was a winded and groggy teenage girl, whose blue jumpsuit shone under the streetlights.

"Hurry up!" Luna screeched as she skidded to a quick halt before heading down an alleyway, behind her Warrior Moon stopped to catch her breath before following after her.

"Do not lose them!" Jadeite commanded as he flew through the air above a ghastly looking monster he had brought with him. It had a sickly brown tint to its skin that sagged in some places, and was pulled gaunt over the bone in others. Its brown hair, thick, shiny, and wild was blown back by the wind and the dark curls with frayed ends whipped about in the night sky. On its body was a tattered black dress with several patches missing or sections torn. "Morga, attack!"

"Yes master." she hissed and went in for a dive, holding her arms out at the ends of which were long boney fingers with unnaturally sharp nails.

"Luna, wait!" Moon stopped and threw herself against a wall to catch her breath again.

"We can't stop!" Luna halted near the end of the alley.

"OSA... P!" Moon exclaimed and pointed to the exit, Luna followed her hand to see they had almost reached the jewelry store without realizing it. "We're leading them straight to Naru!" She gripped her side and winced at what felt like a thorn poking her spleen.

"AH-HA!"

Moon and Luna both heard it, the monster's scream and managed to only catch a glimpse of her as she flew down the alleyway faster than either of them could see. After her came a strong wave of a wind that nearly knocked Luna over and blew up a cloud of dust and dirt in the small space.

"Warrior Moon, are you alright?" Luna asked, struggling to see in the now cloudy darkness. "Warrior Moon!" Luna stared at the spot the girl had been in, but it was empty. It wasn't until a moment later she heard glass shattering and a scream she caught on.

Across the street Morga had hold of Moon, her cold claws were clutched around the girl's arms as the two flew through the front of the jewelry store. Inside Morga swung her around before releasing her and sending her through one of the display cases.

"Owwww..." she whined, to her right she could see a light flicker on from the back room. Slowly she pushed herself up to her feet, careful of the broken glass that surrounded her and watched Morga who was stretching out her fingers.

"This is not okay ugly! Moon cried and held a hand out, clutching a blue light that appeared in it shortly after. From it formed her lance that she pointed at Morga defiantly. With a shrill scream Moon charged to her and Morga leapt into the air, suspending herself high above her.

Moon glared at the woman and ran straight for the wall, trying to picture Sailor V doing the exact same thing that she'd seen in her video games. Moon pressed a foot against the wall, and then another before pushing off and lunging for Morga. The monster hadn't expected it and wavered for a moment in the air, unsure of how to act before Moon swung her blade at her, cutting her arm slightly.

"You brat!" Morga screeched and jabbed at her as she fell, her nails piercing the side of the suited warrior. Moon cried out and gripped her side as she fell to the floor hard, her lance clattering down a few feet away.

"What's all the noise?!" Mayumi Osaka asked as she tumbled into the main room, her daughter right behind her. They both froze at what they saw, a frightening woman and part of their front room destroyed. "Naru stay back!"

"No! Naru!" Moon wheezed and tried to roll over to her lance.

"More prey!" Morga howled in victory and flew down to them faster than the girls could react; her speed caused another gust of wind and sent the shattered glass flying around the room.

When Moon reached her weapon she heard two loud crashes. Upon managing to stand she saw Morga's body standing in the center of the room, her arms no longer at her side, but stretched out across the entire room. Each arm pinning one of the Osaka women against opposite walls.

"Naru!"

Naru squirmed and struggled to free the creature's hand that was gripping her throat tightly, as did her mother, but they proved no match for her strength.

"Moon, use the Moon Blade Slash!" Shouted Luna, who appeared by the girl's side.

"Right." Moon nodded looking at the lance before closing her eyes and visualizing her energy flowing into it. A moment after she could feel the weight of the lance increasing and as she opened her eyes the blue and white glow was all she could see. She continued to stare at the weapon, trying to see the actual shape of it, she continued to stare into the glow until Luna swatted at her ankles.

"What are you doing? Attack!" she reminded.

Moon peered through her mask at Morga and the two she was pinning against the wall. "I can't Luna! The attack, I can't use it in here, it'll destroy the place." Moon jabbed her lance into the ground and it quickly began to revert as she crouched and picked up Luna.

"What are you doing?!"

"Sorry Luna! But I need a distraction!" Moon took a couple of steps back before charging forward and hurling the cat towards Morga. "Moon Cat Attack!"

"Warrior Mooooooooon!" Luna cried as she flew the distance of the room, landing on Morga's head and causing the monster's focus to break as she tried to pry the cat off.

"It worked!" she squealed before quickly running over to Mayumi and lifted her up, dragging her across the room while Luna scratched and bit Morga.

"Almost done Luna!" she called after pulling Naru into the back room with her mom. "Follow me!" she waved to Luna as she sprinted out from the back towards the front entrance that was nothing more than a hole in the wall now. Luna gave a fierce growl before swiping at Morga, leaving a large cut on her forehead and leaping away to follow Moon.

"I admire your consideration for your surroundings Warrior Moon. But if you ever use me as a projectile again, you'll wish we'd never met!"

From a distance Jadeite watched the Cosmic Warrior race through the streets with Morga hot on her trail when something nearby caught his eye.

Staggering through the empty streets of Azabu-Juban Mamoru Chiba was weak and wounded. The wound on his abdomen from the previous last week still hadn't healed completely. Occasionally they got a little better, Motoki had even taken a leave of absence from work to take care of him, but even with all his help the most he could do was ease the pain. The throbbing pain in his abdomen caused him great discomfort as he hobbled along the streets, feeling he was needed someplace.

He paused for a minute, pressing himself against a storefront and caught his breath. He had awoke in his apartment by a painful throbbing his head, it happened often and every time he felt himself drawn to something, or someone.

While he rested against the building a loud crash came from the other side, to him it sounded like a car had run into it.

"What's going on?" Clutching his stomach Mamoru forced himself off the wall and made his way to the end of the street. He froze at the edge of the sidewalk at what he saw standing in the center of the street. A demon that seemed to resemble a woman with a black dress facing the blue suited girl with a large lance.

"Shit." He rasped and began to back up, only to collide with something. Before he could turn a hand was clamped around his throat and Mamoru was thrown against the wall.

"You should be in bed young man." Before him stood Jadeite, a devilish smile played across his lips while his fingers dug into Mamoru's throat. From the street Mamoru could hear a loud crash followed by a girl's scream, the culmination sparked a thumping in his chest that resonated through his entire body.

Weakly Mamoru clamped his own hand around Jadeite's throat and the two men began to apply pressure, testing to see which would give first. Mamoru sputtered as he tried to keep from passing out, his vision was blurring, but Jadeite wasn't fairing any better. From the street came another crash and this time the blue suited girl came tumbling into view and the monster flew after her.

"Morga!" Jadeite rasped and slammed his other arm down onto Mamoru's, breaking his hold on him. "I've got another victim for you!" Jadeite cackled and Morga lunged towards him. "Humans don't know when to mind their own business!"

"Moon Blade Slash!" Moon swung her lance wildly and sent a slash flying for Morga. To her surprise it managed to lop off the woman's arm.

Morga howled in pain as she cupped the injury and Jadeite narrowed his eyes at Moon before tossing Mamoru aside.

"Is that jerk face?" Moon asked trying to get a good look at the person Jadeite had been accosting.

"We must get them away from him Moon." Luna reminded at her feet. "Civilians should never been involved!"

"Gotchaaaa!" Moon wailed as she watched a thin brown line shoot out of Morga's severed limb and fly towards the woman. The line instantly dug into the stump that remained and soon the limb was reattached and Morga was stretching out her fingers.

"Nice try." Jadeite patronized with a petty clap of his hands.

"How do I take down something that reattaches limbs?!" Moon squeaked and took a step back as Morga took to the sky again.

"Aim for the head." Luna offered.

"Right..." Moon clutched her lance tightly and Morga dove down for her. With a large sweeping motion Moon swung her lance out, a brilliant white flash followed it and cut through Morga like paper.

"Dammit." Jadeite swore as he backed into an alley, his feet becoming covered in a murky darkness before his entire body was shrouded.

As the light cleared Moon watched as Morga's body hit the pavement in two twitching pieces, only connected from her shoulders up.

"Quick before she reconnects!" Luna reminded and Moon held the lance over the creature's head. Like Luna had said, the two halves of the body were connected by thin strips that were pulling the halves together.

"Yuck..." Feeling her stomach churn she pierced through the Youma's head with the blade until she felt it hit the ground.

"Excellent work." Luna said and nudged the split half of Morga's head. "Now, call the Guard."

Moon scrunched up her face as she dashed out of the street and into an alley. "Luna, what about all the noise we made? I mean if someone hasn't already seen me, aren't they going to get suspicious." Slowly strips of light surrounded the girl before her suit reverted back to her pajamas and she dug a phone from her pocket.

"The Guard will handle it."

Twenty minutes had passed and several black cars and vans had arrived and departed from the scene. Within that time frame they had retrieved the pieces of Morga's body and even managed to repair the storefront of OSA-P and most of the damage done to other nearby buildings. Usagi watched as some of the Guard's members approached the few nearby homes and began asking if they'd seen the car crash that happened.

While the Guard worked, Usagi and Luna made their way back home. Usagi had completely forgotten it was only Monday morning, meaning her sleep had been cut short due to the abrupt appearance of Morga early this morning.

"Sleepy..." Usagi yawned and flopped onto her bed and Luna placed herself down beside the girl on a pillow.

"You did well Usagi, I was surprised by how quickly you handled her in the end, even though you got off to a rough start." Usagi narrowed her eyes at the cat, wanting her to just praise her efforts for once. "Get some rest."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Usagi smiled and dropped her head onto her pillow with a sigh of relief. Her comfort only lasted a minute however, as her chicken alarm clock began to ring, signaling it was time to wake up.

"Nooooo!" Usagi cried.

* * *

"Good morning Artemis." A woman with flowing curling aquamarine hair said to him sweetly as he entered the lobby of a large building stationed downtown. He flashed a woman sitting at a makeshift desk a badge and gave the woman who greeted him a smile.

"Morning Michiru, are you heading home?" He slid the badge back into his pocket and picked up a briefcase he had by his feet.

"Haruka's been promoted to a field agent, so we're going to get some breakfast to celebrate. I'm meeting her at the restaurant." she nodded to him before bowing out of the door and into the chilly morning. Artemis smiled and crossed the lobby, pushing through two sets of doors to the left and heading across a wide room with tiers of seats on opposite walls.

On the right wall, filling up a handful of seats six people were waiting patiently, and five more were standing around in the same area. They all seemed to come alive at the sight of Artemis and the case he had brought with him.

"Artemis, have you got it?" A man with pale skin, a strong jawline and short dark hair asked urgently.

"I got it." Artemis beamed; the rest of those assembled began to gather around him as he slapped the case down on the stands. He punched in a code on the dial pad and listened to the locks of the case open before he flipped the lid up, sliding the case around for them to see.

"Are these really...?" A woman asked with flowing red hair that concealed her left eye, her right eye open wide. Her blue orb dancing in its socket over the case's contents. Slowly she reached inside and plucked out a small fragment of a broken gem.

After watching one do it, the rest of the group took turns picking out a chip or fragment of the gem, each of them in awe. Artemis nodded to himself as he checked inside, only two pieces left.

"They're the real thing Ilargi." Artemis assured, unable to shake the smile that was plastered on his face. "The Silver Crystal."

* * *

End of Chapter Six  
**Note-**Can anyone guess where in Europe Diarmuid, Jadeite, and Kigaan took the girls?

* * *

Next, a beautiful woman appears, could she really be Luna? Also not one, but two monsters from the Dark Kingdom attack and Artemis is in the war path. When Minako witnesses the unbelievable, what strength will she reveal? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Seven - The Warrior of Love**


	7. The Warrior of Love

**Cosmic Warriors  
**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, or their original owners, respectively.

**Note: **Thanks always for the feedback and to JulietShadow and SadieSwirl for being my beta readers. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN- ****The Warrior of Love**

* * *

**Monday, September 21****st**

A week had passed since Warrior Moon's defeat of Morga, and unfortunately for Usagi, more and more small time monsters seemed to be popping up. Although she wasn't the type to be ahead of the game when it came to homework, after a week of back to back battles, she would gladly trade her lance for a math book.

The week had started in a far more usual way for Usagi's life: a missed alarm, a rushed breakfast, mad dash to school and a failed quiz. It wasn't a good routine, but it was comfortable to her. After Ms. Haruna had dismissed the class Usagi stood pressed against her locker waiting for Naru, unfortunately Umino found her first.

"Hey Usagi, how did you do on the test?" he asked, pushing his glasses farther up on his nose, an act that this very morning seemed to irk her more than ever. With a roll of her eyes she flashed the test Ms. Haruna had given her and Umino whistled. "I see, the usual huh?"

Usagi let her bag drop from over her shoulder and groaned. "I'm soooo tireedd..."

"Not getting enough sleep?" From the classroom came Ami, holding her usual stack of books to her chest. At the bottom was her most recent Algebra test.

"100%!" Usagi shouted and shot off of the locker to peruse the quiz. "How does that even happen?"

"Oh my..." Ami said, pulling the quiz out and sliding it within one of her books. "How embarrassing."

"Congratulations Ami, it looks like we're doing about the same." Umino pulled his own test out from thin air, another 100%.

Ami smiled at Umino before glancing to Usagi. "Usagi, if I remember correctly you and Naru wanted me to help you study, but we never got together."

Usagi's mind reeled back to just two weeks ago when everything had started. When she met Ami and Luna, and how all of her priorities had changed since. "Oh yeah, I really did forget about it..."

"Speaking of Naru," Ami touched a finger to her lips before continuing. "she's been looking _off_ lately. Do you think everything is okay with her?"

"She just came back home last week." Usagi dropped back against the lockers and looked to the ceiling. "I guess being back in the house where it all happened is weird to her."

"Not to mention that weird break-in last week!" Umino added in forcefully. Usagi was trying to forget leading Morga directly to her, but the guilt was still eating at her.

"I bought her a gift last week to help make her feel better; she said she really liked it." Usagi said with a smile, feeling she was doing good to help Naru adjust.

"Poor thing... Well, Usagi if you're not too busy this week I've got some free time, maybe we can get some studying done. And if Naru is feeling up to it I'd love for her to come too."

"I don't have any plans." Usagi chuckled nervously. "Yet." she mumbled, Warrior business always had a knack for popping up at the worse times, with no warning.

"Wonderful, let's meet up after school tomorrow okay?" Ami placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and then onto Umino's before she disappeared down the hall.

"You accept her help, but not mine. Is that how it is Usagi?" Umino fumed, furrowing his brow.

"Hehe, pretty much." she replied, sticking a tongue out to him.

Outside of Usagi's school a boy and girl were crossing the school grounds.

"Artemis, why are we here? This isn't even my school." Minako asked while she walked hand in hand with the white haired boy around the school's running track.

"Just because. I don't ask for favors often, so humor me." Artemis said, his attention shifting from various activities happening around them.

"I should be across town right now investigating the missing metal, but I'm here pretending to be your girlfriend while you check out how fast the cheerleader captain can do a split!" Minako babbled and gripped his chin, pulling is attention to her.

"Research, research..." Artemis retorted with a smile. "Speaking of the metal, are they really still worried about it?"

"It's-still-missing." Minako mocked him and looked away, searching for some shirtless football players. "Of course they're still worried!"

"You already know who took it, Minako."

"Yeah, but I can't exactly hand that information over to the police, now can I?"

"Just tell them it was dropped into the ocean or something..."

"And when they send down a team to find it, then what? Why do you care anyway Artemis?"

"A friend of mine brought it up and I realized it may be in my best interest to pay attention to it." Artemis shrugged and scanned the field.

"Your _friend_..." Minako said making air quotes with her free hand. "Honestly Artemis, if you care about the metal then let's split and head there now!" Minako snapped at him and gestured to the exit.

"In a minute, in a minute." Artemis frowned as he continued to observe. "Besides it's not the metal I'm worried about, it's what the Dark Kingdom needed it for."

"The Guard has no leads?"

Ivory locks moved loosely as Artemis shook his head.

"Okay Artemis, tell me the truth, why did you come to a school?" he raised his eyebrows at the question. "You've been here for three months and you never have anything to say about it." Minako demanded an answer as she stopped walking, her hand breaking free from the embrace.

"Well, we expected to find the Cosmic Warriors in this area, and the school is a good location to a lot of neighborhoods." Artemis said and slid his hands into his pockets.

"You found one." Minako answered absently, looking to the sky.

"Yeah, one." Artemis uttered and shrugged his right shoulder, feeling the tense muscle he pulled fighting last week. "It's tough handling things on our own, the Guard I mean."

"So I take it there's no other lead?"

"Not yet, anyway I think I've seen enough. Let's get out of here." Artemis suggested and snatched up Minako's hand before pulling her along to the parking lot.

* * *

In a location far away from Tokyo, Queen Beryl was floating impatiently behind a team of scientists that were babbling about the latest statistic reports. Behind her was Jadeite, who was walking at an annoyingly slow pace.

"And what of Experiment-H?" Beryl asked, already knowing the answer he was going to give.

"Destroyed." Jadeite replied.

"In the past week a total of four Youma and two Experiments have been destroyed by that brat, Warrior Moon." she reminded and clenched her fists at her side, the cracking of the knuckles alerted Jadeite to just how displeased she really was. "Give me a reason not to kill you Jadeite, your failures are unsettling."

The man paused for a second, although he had failed her many times in the past, his latest disappointments seemed to have greater effects on her. "Well – my Queen, not every monster I've dispatched has been destroyed yet. Their positions lead me to believe I've found a new way to make sure they live longer and gather more energy over time."

"Experiment-M and Iguana, correct?"

"Yes my Queen." he replied pleasantly. "They've been in the field now for over a week and there haven't been any problems to report." Jadeite continued but halted in a long hallway lined with crumbling stone pillars. Ahead of him the scientists were looking over some papers before they turned to Beryl.

"We're here." the men said together before stepping aside and gesturing to a hallway to the right. Beryl crinkled her nose at the idea of having humans lead her anywhere, but followed in after them.

The small group entered a room didn't seem fit to exist in an ancient stone structure. The room was expansive and pristine, floor and walls covered in white tiles. Scattered about the room were long white tables with bodies of humans and monsters on them. Lined against the walls were tanks filled with a vibrant green liquid and dashing about the room were other human scientists. The room was abuzz with the beeping of machines, flipping of pages and the chattering of humans as they discussed which project was ready and which needed more time to complete.

Behind his queen Jadeite's face scrunched up at the sight of so many humans, in his eyes it was like seeing ants crawling out of their hill. In the corner of the room he saw another thing he despised, Zoisite. The man had his arms draped over the shoulders of a scientist at the control panel.

"Tomoe." Beryl called out, catching the attention of the all the workers, but only forcing one of them to come forward. He was an older gentleman, with off white hair and large circular glasses that always seemed to be reflecting the light in the room.

"Yes my Queen, so happy you could make it. The Experiment you requested has been completed." Souichi Tomoe spoke quickly and efficiently before stepping aside and gesturing to the right wall. Beryl nodded and glided by it, glancing into various tanks that she passed. As Jadeite followed after her with the man by his side, he too looked into the tanks to see what was inside.

Each one was different, but he understood them all to be Experiments, or Youmas being repaired. He stopped when he came across a tank with Experiment-D-U-D inside, his dark hair floating freely in the green liquid and his nude body curled into a ball within. Seeing a copy of the man reminded that he hadn't spoken to the remaining activated clones since the death of their copy.

"Hurry along now," Souichi said, giving Jadeite a slight nudge. "we mustn't keep her waiting." Jadeite jerked away from his touch and kept his cold eyes trained on him until they reached where Beryl had stopped.

"What is this?" she asked, holding an open hand out to the tank. Jadeite glanced over to it, it appeared to be empty for the most part, but after watching it long enough he saw strands of a goo floating about inside.

"Oh my." Souichi said before snapping his fingers and waving his hand in the air. Before long two other scientists had rushed over and were inspecting the tank. "What happened to Experiment-V?"

"We feared this might happen..." One responded, touching the glass thoughtfully.

"What might happen?" Jadeite asked, looking inside the tank once more to see a larger collection of the goo floating upwards. It moved like lava inside a lamp.

"The only Experiments we've created so far have been of the dead." The other scientist said, checking a clipboard he was clutching. "So creating an Experiment of Sailor V, who is still alive and well…" At the mention of V's vitality Beryl shot Jadeite a glare. "The effects of it were unknown, but we hypothesized that the Experiment may not be stable enough to last long in the world."

"So." Beryl announced. "Not only have I wasted my time coming here, but you don't have the Experiment I requested. AND we still don't know Sailor V's identity."

"It seems we've used up the entire DNA we had left of her, so creating another one is impossible, as of now." The same scientist added offhandedly."I see." Beryl nodded slowly before reaching a hand out and gripping the throat of the worker. "I am growing tired of failures." While the man gasped and scratched at her hand she forced him back against the tank, his body slowly passed through the glass by means unknown to anyone who was watching. Before long his body was within the tank and Beryl was pulling her hand free from it.

She gave the man one final glance before looking to the three men around her. "Let this be a lesson." The man inside was beating against the glass, trying to break free, but it was hopeless. "I won't be delayed from my goal, if you cannot do as I ask then you have no right to live in this world that will soon be mine."

With that she turned and began to leave with Jadeite on her tail. Souichi smiled as they left and the remaining scientist watched his colleague gasp for air. Inside the tank the man clawed at his throat and filled his lungs with the green liquid that was proving to be lethal to humans, faster.

* * *

The following day after class, Usagi and Naru waited outside their school for Ami. They were finally going to get together to study after Usagi's mom threatened to take away her house key if she brought home another F.

"You sure you're okay?" Usagi asked plainly. Naru seemed to be spacing in and out of their conversation. "Maybe you should sit down." she gestured to the small bench outside their schoolyard and Naru plopped down onto it.

"Thanks, but I'm fine Usagi, really." Naru smiled, but there was no mistaking it, she wasn't fine. She looked as if she hadn't had a good night's sleep or a decent meal in months. Her flat hair was a far cry from her normal voluminous waves and her skin was much paler than normal, accentuating the dark circles forming under her eyes.

"Hey girls."

From behind Usagi came a familiar voice, but it didn't come from who she expected. Coming towards them on the sidewalk was a girl who looked to be their age, with flowing dark hair that cascaded down her back in a mixture of shiny waves and curls. Her skin looked flawless and appeared to be a perfectly sun-kissed complexion; her eyes were open wide exposing deep blue orbs.

She wore a small black skirt and a yellow blouse with a bow at bottom of the v-cut neck line. On her feet were black pumps with roses at the toes, dangling from her ears Usagi could see yellow and black earrings and around her neck was a thin gold chain that held two ends of what was unmistakably a crescent moon.

"Luna...?" Usagi asked absently, her mind racing at a million miles. That was unmistakably Luna's voice she heard.

"Luna?" Naru asked weakly as she wobbled on her feet to stand. "Isn't that the name of that cat we found?"

"Is it really?" Luna smiled to the girls. "What a coincidence." Usagi's jaw was hanging down as she gaped at the girl; nothing was making sense in her mind anymore.

"Well Usagi, I gotta go. I totally forgot I told mom I'd help her with the new display cases today." she said sheepishly before giving her friend a weak hug and hobbling off. "Tell Ami I said sorry!"

Luna turned to watch her walk off before looking back to Usagi whose expression had changed from confused to upset. "What?"

"What do you mean what? How is this even possible?!" Usagi screamed and Luna motioned for her to keep her voice down.

"It's been two weeks since you first transformed and you're not used to this kind of stuff yet?" Luna asked incredulously, not expecting this to be such a big deal.

"My talking cat was the only thing, I – I thought..." Usagi stopped and exhaled heavily while Luna gave her a sympathetic smile. "How come you never told me before? Or even transformed to help me!" She snarled now, realizing how many times Luna could have become a human to save her.

"You have to do some things on your own Usagi, besides there wasn't much I could do before." she replied offhandedly, checking her nails. "Also this isn't my first time coming around like this; I've been keeping an eye on things around here for a few months now, sometimes posing as a substitute teacher, other times as a student."

"You're unbelievable..." Usagi rolled her eyes and watched some of her fellow classmates coming out of the school yard, each of them looking just as bad as Naru had. "Why does everyone look tired? If anyone should look like that it should be me!" she whined and rubbed her forehead.

"Everyone's been acting weird lately 'cause of those weird pet things." From around the corner came one of Usagi's classmates, Yumiko.

"What pets?" Luna asked, moving past Usagi and into Yumiko's face.

"Uh..." she stammered looking up at the girl who towered over her. "they're called chanelas or something. A new pet store started selling them last week and it's all anyone's been talking about."

Luna furrowed her brow before turning to Usagi. "Never heard of it, have you? Usagi?"

The blonde's eyes were darting around, scanning across the ground looking at nothing in particular while her hands trembled at her side. "I gave Naru one of those last week as a welcome home present." she answered, on the verge of tears.

"Oh Usagi..." Luna said before grabbing the girl's hand and heading off down the street.

"Luna, what are you gonna do?" Usagi asked, dabbing away tears now as Luna continued to pull her down the street.

"Me? Nothing." Glancing around Luna yanked Usagi across the street. "But _you _are going to lead us to the store you bought that chanela from and investigate." Luna ran her hands down her thighs before they disappeared into pockets on her skirt and pulled out a small black phone.

"Who are you calling?" Usagi asked as she looked around at the names of stores as they walked, trying to remember where she and Makoto had gone exactly.

"Who do you think?" Luna followed after her and mumbled to herself until the line picked up. "Artemis! We've got a problem." She watched Usagi jog to the end of the street and stop in front of a store. "Possible Dark Kingdom activity."

Luna held the phone close to her ear as she trotted down the street after Usagi. "Get Minako and meet us at... Pet Shop Perfume. It's just down the street from Usagi's school, hurry." Luna ended the call and slid her phone away before pulling a watery-eyed Usagi away from the storefront.

"That's the store Luna." Usagi rubbed away tears and sniffled a few times while Luna pulled her into a space between the pet shop and another building. "Minako's coming?" she asked pitifully.

"Yes, now Usagi, pull it together." Luna tapped her shoulders before poking her head out of the alley to be sure no one was coming.

Minutes past and Usagi paced up and down the alley, feeling guilt continue to pile up inside for putting Naru in harm's way again. Occasionally she gripped the moon charm, it tended to make her feel slightly better, knowing she could fix her mistake as Warrior Moon.

"They're here." Luna said coming back into the alley.

"Okay." Usagi followed her out of the alley. Looking down the street she could see Artemis hunched over on a motorcycle and Minako behind him, both flying down the street to them.

The bike purred to a spot in front of Luna and Artemis whistled seeing the woman waiting on the corner. "You look good."

"Not now." she dismissed, and continued to glance around the street. Minako hopped off the bike and immediately rushed to Usagi, the two hugged and Usagi complimented her clothes while Luna and Artemis worked out a plan.

"Alright girls," Luna announced, snapping the girls out of their chit chat. "head inside and find out what's going on. We'll stay outside and ward off any potential customers."

"Gotcha." Minako winked and held up a thumb before marching to the store's entrance, followed by a wary Usagi.

The sliding glass door opened for the girls and once inside they were met with a sweet and pleasant aroma. "Oh, it smells so good in here..." Minako complemented.

"Why thank you." A woman said appearing beside them, making Usagi jump. "Welcome to Pet Shop Perfume, would you like to see our chanela?" She was an older woman wearing a teal dress, with soft wavy brown hair held back in a messy bun with a single loose strand that came down over her forehead.

Minako glanced back to Usagi who gave her a confirmation nod that the chanela were what they were here for. "Sounds great!" Minako exclaimed with a clap of her hands.

The woman smiled a brilliantly white smile before turning and strutting down the aisle ahead of them. "Right this way." As she led the girls down the aisle she gestured left and right to the cases in which the chanela were kept. They were small creatures, with fur of all different colours, large ears, red eyes and prominent front teeth. "As you can see we specialize in selling chanela, also you noticed the smell. That is produced by our chanela as well; each one has a different pleasing aroma they give off."

Usagi crouched down in front of one of the cases and stared inside. "They sure are cute..." she mumbled, tapping the glass case of a pink chanela.

"It's no wonder a pretty girl like you would pick out the cutest chanela we have to offer." The woman said smiling at the blonde who was opening the case to pick up the animal.

"So miss." Minako interjected, placing a hand on Usagi's shoulder. "How much do these things cost?"

"Oh, we're not too concerned with payment. You can just come back and pay whenever you can." she waved off the question before giggling into her palm.

"I'll take this one for sure!" Usagi giggled and nuzzled the chanela, forgetting about her guilt and becoming subdued by the appeal the chanela had. Minako gave her a quizzical look, but soon understood after seeing the pet's eyes light up and Usagi seemingly fall deeper into a trance.

"Excellent choice, and for you?" The woman held a hand out to Minako before turning around, showing off the rest of the cases in a grandiose manner. "Take your pick dear."

"Riiight..." Minako reached a hand to her waist and gripped her whip handle before lashing it out at the woman. "You may be able to fool most of the people that come in here, but I've been dealing with creeps like you for a while now!"

The woman staggered back from Minako as she lashed the whip out again, this time at her feet, deliberately creating distance between them. "And there's no way I'm letting my friend leave here with that monster!" Minako slapped Usagi's hands and caused the chanela to drop from her grasp; the creature hit the floor and began to scurry away towards the woman.

"Minako, that was rude!" Usagi pouted and rubbed her hand.

"Get ready, the fun is about to start. I can just tell." Minako smiled and lowered herself into a sort of battle stance as the saleswoman began to snarl at her.

"You little bitch!" Instantly her hand began to twitch and jerk about, the veins becoming visible under her skin as if a thick liquid was now pushing their way through them. Usagi covered her mouth and gasped as the woman's arm began to grow larger and change not only colour, but texture as well.

The once smooth looking skin was now becoming harder, scaly, and gaining a vibrant blue tint to it.

"You'll regret this day!" Before either of the girls could follow what was happening, her arm has completely transformed, ripping away the rest of the fabric on her arms. It no longer resembled that of a human, it was much larger, like a male bodybuilders, with long white claws and covered in blue scales.

"Let's go Minako!" Usagi cried and took off back down the aisle before turning left and pushing herself against on the shelves. "Minako?!" She whined noticing the girl wasn't right behind her.

"Minako was it?" The woman snarled. "Well Minako, hate to break it to you, but your friend's a chicken.

Minako gave her a fake smile and lashed out at her with her whip, aiming for her feet again. "I think you're one of the first Youma she's ever seen transform, you're not too good looking either, so it's not surprising she ran off in fear." Minako gritted her teeth and lashed it out towards her head, the end of the whip cracking against one of the glass cases.

"I'll tear that smile off your face!" The woman growled as her other arm twitched before transforming into a match for her scaled arm.

"What's your name ugly?" Minako taunted and turned to her side before sending the whip out again, cracking at the woman's feet that were twitching and on their way to transforming as well.

"Iguara." she smiled, her teeth now sharp like an animals before she burst out of her dress, the tattered remains falling around her. She now resembled a blue iguana, with a thick wild tail, covered head to toe in scales, and a flickering tongue.

Minako scrunched up her face in disgust before twirling her whip around and lashing out to her. Iguara's claws clamped down on the whip before it reached her and tugged on it hard, forcing Minako in closer.

Minako huffed and pushed off the ground, her feet making contact with the face of the beast before she used her like a wall to run up before pushing off of. While Iguara rubbed her face Minako yanked back on her whip before sending it out once more, cracking it against the monster's chest.

"C'mon, you're gonna have to do better than that!" Minako taunted and reached back to grab her second whip, she then began to move her arms like wheels. Each whip cracked. against the floor, one after the other and created a field of a safety around Minako that Iguara couldn't hope to penetrate without getting whacked.

"Heh!" Iguara lowered herself and leaned forward before charging in, disregarding the whips which caught Minako off-guard and lunged forward to the heroine. Minako didn't have time to react as Iguara slammed her head into her gut, forcing to her over as she rammed the girl back against the wall of cases.

Minako groaned and tried to push off the monster's shoulders to free herself but before she knew it the thick tail was wrapped around her throat. She kicked with all of her might and tried to pry the tail off by slipping an arm under it, but all was useless as Iguara began to hold her up, tightening her grip.

Minako coughed hard as she found each time she tried to inhale the tail's hold would get even tighter. "M-oo-oon..."

Usagi heard her, as she sat cowering on the ground, whimpering ever so slightly about wanting to be rescued. "Where's Tuxedo Mask when I need him?" She then heard Luna's words, replying in her mind.

'_You have to do some things on your own Usagi...'_

"She's right." Usagi opened her eyes wide and slowly she looked to the moon charm on her wrist. "For Naru." Slowly her lips closed and she could see it, the suit, the mask, the lance. And after a wave of warm energy raced through her she stood tall as Warrior Moon.

Slowly she peeked around the corner and caught a glimpse of the monster before pushing herself back up against the shelf. "It's so scary!" She gasped a moment later and peered back around noticing it had Minako in its tail.

"Mina..." she whined before looking at the lance and picturing its elongated form. "Moon Blade Slash!" Moon rushed out from behind the shelf, making sure she was in position before the monster noticed her.

"Ahhh!" Hunching over she quickly slammed the lance onto the ground, at the height of the swing a white disc of energy flew from the blade and sliced through the air and the monster's tail before Usagi had even stood up again.

She heard Minako hit the floor, along with the severed tail that was now flailing around and splattering blood on the cases. Minako clutched her throat and gasped for her long awaited breath as Iguara cried and clutched her blood gushing stub.

"AHHH! My tail!" The Youma reared her head back and let out a howl of a screech that forced Usagi onto her knees and a moment later all of the glass cases shattered, showering the girls in the broken fragments. The chanelas all began to hop out of their cases and make soft chattering noises, when paired with hundreds of their kind made it sound like one loud obnoxious call.

"C'mon Minako, we need to get away from here!" Moon huffed; trying to drag her friend away, but with the glass and chanelas around it wasn't an easy task.

"You're not going anywhere!" Iguara roared and with a swoop of her hand grabbed Minako away and slammed her against a shelf wall, the girl coughed hard from the impact and struggled to free herself.

"Leave her alone!" Moon cried and scrambled to her feet, jabbing at her with the lance before the Youma grabbed the blade, stopping it as it pressed against the side of her head.

"That was a close one." Iguara cackled and jiggled the blade around in her hand, causing Moon to almost let go as the strength of the much larger monster was double that of any human.

Moon glanced to Minako who was being crushed by the hand before looking to her blade and focusing on the length again and felt her energy seep into it. Moon stared at her blade in awe as the tip of it light up bright, Iguara too stared down at it before releasing hold of it, smoke lifting off from her palm.

"What is that?!" She howled at Moon who clutched the grip with both hands and aimed the tip at the monster. Before Moon could concentrate more of her energy flowing through the lance, the tip exploded with light.

It sounded as if a bomb had gone off in the shop, the room was flooded with blinding light and the impact forced Moon back against the shattered case wall.

At some point before the light dimmed she heard something hit the floor and Minako cough.

"Minako! Are you okay?" Moon asked, trying to peer through her mask.

"I'm fine." She rasped before squealing as something heavier hit the ground beside her.

"What is it?" Moon asked as she was starting to get a clear view of the room, she quickly glanced to Minako and down beside her was Iguara's body, minus the head.

The creature's body was limp and Minako scooted away from it, holding her throat and struggling to catch her breath. Moon glanced at the blade, it hadn't grown but a blast of energy had simply been fired from the end of it.

"Freaky..." She said quietly and glanced to the body of the monster, now leaking blood from both ends.

"Moon!" Minako exclaimed, grabbing her arm and pointing to the chanela surrounding them, they were all hissing and glowing white. "What's going on with them?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to stick around to find out!" Moon answered and headed to the exit, and as if they were magnets the chanelas that had gathered near the door scurried past the girls to join the rest of the pets. In the middle of the aisle they began to climb on top of one another and form a single glowing mass that was taller than either of the girls that were cowering before it.

Slowly the glowing mass took on a new form, no longer was it a collection of furry creatures, but it was one single animal, if you want to call it that. Before them stood a deer-like monster with translucent skin, standing far taller than either of the girls.

It had huge arms; from elbow to its wide three-clawed hands was the length of an average human adult. The creature had a long neck and a wide head with empty eye sockets and a large snout filled with long yellow teeth that acted as a cage to contain the beast's snarl.

Poking out of its head was a series of white horns. It had hoofed feet that clacked against the tile floor as it wavered in front of the girls, and powering those feet were thick thighs that were used for propulsion.

Minako stood petrified as the beast stared down at them, its long arms swung forward and Moon yanked her out of the way to avoid a lethal blow. Its limbs crashed through the shelves off to their right and ripped straight through them, the tops snapping off like twigs and falling into the aisle behind.

Moon struggled to stand with shaking knees and swung her lance upwards without thinking. "Moon Blade Slash!" Instantly the weight increased and a flash of white was all she saw before the creature's snarl reached her ears.

The glowing disc of energy was caught, or stuck, on the creature's body. Grinding against the torso of the beast the disc seemed incapable of slicing through it. Moon took a quick step back as she watched the monster flex and send the disc flying up into the ceiling.

She quickly gripped the shrinking weapon with both hands and the monster leaned forward, placing its massive hands on the floor and Moon felt herself being tugged down. All she saw was the face of the beast come closer before she hit the floor, thanks to Minako's help she managed to avoid the monster that lunged straight for her and ended up flying out of the building.

"T-Thanks Minako..." she mumbled.

"Don't mention it." Minako replied, with a slight cackle at the end. She wasn't even sure what the monster was, but it terrified her like nothing ever had before.

The girls lay still for a moment waiting for a beast to return but that idea was washed away when they heard the scream of a woman from outside.

"Luna!" The girls shouted and helped each other stand before rushing out of the hole the monster had created. Outside they saw the monster hunched over, ready to lunge again and Artemis was standing in front of Luna with his arms spread wide.

"Artemis move!"

Minako's cry fell on deaf ears, or rather it didn't reach him in time because the monster leapt immediately.

Its powerful thighs propelled it forward and its arms guided its path as it flew towards Artemis and Luna. The monster snapped its head down, locking into position and presented its horns first and blasted past the duo.

Moon was clueless, it had moved too fast for her to follow it, but Luna's scream alerted her to the fact that something had gone wrong. Her blue eyes glanced around the scene, trying to focus on the monster but as Minako raced past her she caught sight of Artemis. His normally clean white clothes were tainted with something dark now and he collapsed in front of Luna. Slowly she staggered closer, feeling her arms go weak and finding it hard to hold onto her lance as she came in close enough to see the damage.

Artemis lay twitching in a pool of his own blood in the middle of the street; Luna was crouched beside him, her bloodied hands shaking uncontrollably over a wound on his side. However, the longer Moon stared at it, the more apparent it became it was more than just a wound; a chunk of his abdomen was missing. Completely gone. Moon looked around as she wavered on her feet, seeing a trail of blood from where they were standing to where the monster had landed.

Luna was crying hysterically now, Minako was crouched over Artemis who was shaking now, his body oozing blood and his face losing colour as each second passed.

Moon was frozen in place; the power the beast had displayed was like nothing she'd ever seen before. No Experiment had this kind of power.

Her head felt like it weighed a ton as she glanced around the street; in the windows of the nearby buildings she could see faces peering out at them. In the distance she could see a group of people gathering on the street.

Several yards away from her the beast was snorting as she turned to face it. She didn't feel anything when Minako appeared by her side and shoved her out of the way, she simply tumbled down on the ground and watched Minako reach to her head and grip her earrings.

"Cosmic Embodiment: Venus!" Minako hoarsely cried and her body exploded with light a second later.

"No way..." Moon whispered under her breath, forcing herself up onto her elbows, staring at Minako. All other eyes in the area shifted to Minako as well who stood at the center of a vortex of light. Light that emerged from her heart shaped earrings that began to swirl around her, forming a cone of light and energy.

Luna sniffled and stared at Minako, the cone of light coming to her as a distorted image through her watery eyes. Artemis watched the light through his glassy eyes and formed a smile with his blood stained lips.

The light cone quickly broke away from her body leaving Minako standing tall as a figure composed of an airy orange light with flecks of light resembling hard edged hearts floating around her. She opened her wide eyes to stare down the monster and the flecks of light came to life instantly clinging to her body before the area exploded with light.

Once it dimmed, Minako stood posed in an orange skintight jumpsuit with yellow covering her legs, giving the impression of boots. The same yellow was in patches on her suit on her hands, forearms, the insides of her tights and the sides of her torso were also covered in the same yellow.

Watching the monster stand tall again Minako took in a deep breath, feeling the power overwhelm her as yellow lines cascaded down from her shoulders, looping under her arms, and forming a line around her waist. From there they ran down, creating vertical lines down to her shins, and ran down her backside, stopping at her calves.

Minako crossed her hands over her chest, palms facing inwards, as a shimmering blue light started to glow on each of them soon taking the shape of the symbol for Venus. Quickly she flipped her hair and the same symbol spread out across her back before she brought her hand back to her forehead and quickly dropped it, her lozenge-shaped mask with a cross-shaped slash on it formed. Bringing her hands to her earrings they began to shine before exploding with light and Minako brought her hands back down, in them holding her new weapon, an orange disc with a crack down the middle, all together resembling a broken heart.

"Warrior Venus..." Moon whispered knowingly as she scrambled to her feet. She glanced back to Luna who had pulled Artemis into her lap and was rocking back and forth, her tears falling down onto his face.

"Venus Heart Attack!"

Moon whipped her head around to Venus and saw the monster lunging forward her, but she threw her disc out to it regardless.

Before the two made contact the disc broke apart into two halves, revealing the jagged edges to have blades in them and a chain connecting the two halves to be composed of heart-shaped razor blades.

Before the monster realized what it was, the two halves flew past it and the middle of the chain dug into its face, cutting deep into its skin.

The force of the chain stopping caused the two halves to yank back and wrap around its body. The rest of the chain cut and sliced into it as well before finally the two heart halves stabbed into it, one entering at the neck and the other into the back. The wounded beast collapsed onto the ground and slid to a stop at her feet.

Venus kept her eyes fixed on the ground while she listened to the monster choke and gag on its own blood and struggle to free itself. She raised her head and watched the beast squirm from side to side the discs and chains only dug deeper and cut more as it moved.

Moon watched helplessly, her blade feeling like a ton in her hands while she watched the monster struggle.

"Stop moving!" Venus said and held her hand out, the chains around it dissolving into energy that recollected into her hands as a whole disk.

The beast was breathing heavily now, blood was leaking out from its sides. Venus crouched down over its back and pulled apart the disk, holding onto one half and placed it against the monster's neck. She yanked back on the half; the blade inside slicing through its neck instantly, a large gash now separated most of the head from the neck.

Moon watched Warrior Venus, in awe of her strength, as she turned away from the monster and headed to her. "Are you okay?" The girl crouched down to her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Uh-huh..." Moon nodded slowly and smiled at her friend before something behind her caught her attention. The beast was up and its eyeless gaze was on her. "It's not dead!" She screamed and Venus whipped around to protect her, holding her disk out as the monster staggered closer to them. Its head was reconnected to its neck and the wounds on its body had vanished.

In the distance Moon could hear cars approaching fast and the sound of a siren along with them, she glanced around, hoping they were close and Venus held back her disk again, ready to throw it.

The monster pounded its feet against the pavement before it flew the distance to the girls. Moon shrieked, and Venus braced for impact before something black smashed into the beast, mid-leap, and sent it flying back into the pet shop. Moon blinked several times through her mask to see a black sports car in front of them that had crashed into the monster.

From the driver's side emerged someone with short blonde hair wearing a leather jacket, they held a hand up in the air as a black van pulled up. "It's inside, take it out immediately!" they yelled with a husky voice. The doors of the van slid open and from it stormed out several men and women in black protective padding with guns who stormed into the store.

"Nice driving, Haruka." From the passenger side emerged a beautiful woman with teal locks that cascaded over shoulders in beautiful curls. " But what was that thing?"

"It's Furfur!" In the distance a stout elderly man shouted while waving a stack of tags.

"Grandpa, get back in the car!" Rei Hino shouted.

From behind Moon, she heard heavy footsteps and saw several people dressed in white uniforms lift Artemis onto a stretcher. While she watched them load him into the back of an ambulance, two more came over and helped Luna inside as well.

"Minako – Venus..." Moon said meekly, resting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "What?"

Venus lifted her mask from her face and smiled to Moon, an act that made her feel secure. "It's okay; it's over for now Moon." she placed a hand onto the girl's mask and lifted it off her face.

From within the pet shop came a terrifying howl of rage and from the opening several armed men flew out. Minako gripped her friend's hand tightly as she slipped her mask back over her face.

Furfur leapt out of the shop and landed onto the street with a thud, the punctured body of an SAT member on its horns.

"This is getting bad." Venus commented while she glanced around the street. She wondered how long it would be before a civilian wandered to close. Furfur shook its head, sending the body stuck on its horns flying off.

"Fire at will!" A man near one of the black vans shouted and bullets began to tear through the body of the beast. It let out pained howled, but showed no sign of admitting defeat as it swatted away several SAT members with its massive claws.

Furfur then lowered itself to the ground as a flame shot out from its backside where a tail would be. From its back came two larger flames, moving like wings. Furfur opened its mouth wide, wide enough to rip the skin from its jaw allowing the beast's mouth to open wider, as a ball of fire formed in its throat.

"Get down!" Someone called as Furfur jutted its neck forward, the ball of fire spiraling from its mouth and slamming into a van before creating an explosion that rattled the street.

With a noise akin to a roar, the beast galloped through the barricade of vehicles and off down the street.

Before Moon could follow what was happening several black cars flew down the street and were chasing after the beast.

"We have to chase it!" Venus shouted and flew past Moon.

"R-Right." Moon's lance vanished from her hand and she took off after Venus who stopped at the end of the street and was straddling the motorcycle she'd arrived on.

Venus swapped her mask for a helmet and revved the engine a few times before Moon hopped on and they sped off from the shop.

* * *

Hovering above a building was Jadeite, the Shitennou floated for a moment before a twinge of pain forced him out of the air. He collapsed onto the roof and struggled to make his way to the edge to see down onto the street. Below he watched Furfur gallop down the street, causing cars to veer off course in fear of it. "Where is he...?"

"Here I am." Zoisite sang, appearing behind the man in a gust of wind and petals. "I never imagined you would need my help, Jadeite."

Jadeite's chest heaved, and he swallowed back a mouthful of blood as he stood tall. "I'm preparing the forest, get Furfur there!" He barked before clasping his hands together, lacing his fingers in the process.

"As you wish." Zoisite replied with a smile, mimicking Jadeite's hand sign.

* * *

Warrior Moon held on for dear life as Venus weaved in and out of frantic traffic. Following after Furfur wasn't a challenge; the motorcycle had no problem keeping up with the best. But the terrified drivers that it passed left the street a nightmare to maneuver.

"I can't get a shot!" Venus shouted, holding her disc out ahead of her. Moon watched it glow a bright orange while she attempted to aim it at the galloping monster. "Where the hell is it going?!"

"The park!" Moon shouted over the sound of the engine. "It's going to the park, it's at the end of this street" Ami had taken her to Juuban park a few times in the past week; it was her favorite place to go and read in her free time.

Venus sped up once Furfur had hopped over a car and as the girls pulled up closer to it Venus could see the park in the distance.

Furfur leapt into the street and shot out a fireball that lit a car ablaze before it hopped over the railing and began to gallop down a hill and into the park.

"Hold on Moon!" Venus called and sped up again, dodging the burning wreck and flying off the edge of the street.

Moon tightened her grip on Venus as the bike made a rough landing in the park; the orange suited Warrior fishtailed for a minute before she sped off after the beast again.

"We can't let it stay here! There are too many people!" Moon shouted as they flew past a group terrified children.

Several yards ahead of them Furfur dashed into a thicket of trees. Venus pushed the bike to its limits as they raced ever closer to the beast and ran through the opening the beast had gone through.

The moment they passed through Moon felt a biting cold sneak through her suit and send chills down her spine. She glanced back to see the opening they'd come through quickly vanishing.

After several more minutes of riding Venus pulled the bike to a halt near a fallen tree. "I think we lost it!" she shouted, swinging a leg off the bike. "This is not good."

"I wonder what happened to the rest of the Guard?" Moon asked and held her hand out, her lance appearing in it a moment later.

"Hopefully they'll arrive soon, they should be tracking the bike to find us."

"I have a question." Moon started, tapping her fingers together. "How long have you been like me?"

"It's been a while since I first transformed." Venus answered truthfully. "Artemis first awakened me in London last year." Venus crouched down at the base of the uprooted tree and glanced around at the dirt.

"Why did you wait so long to appear as Warrior Venus?"

"To keep the Dark Kingdom at bay." Venus moved out of her squatting position and massaged her thighs. "Most of the cases I dealt with in London I handled as Venus, and after a while it attracted the wrong kind of attention. Word that a Cosmic Warrior had awakened spread throughout the dark forces. After that it wasn't just muggers and murderers in the city, but Youmas and Experiments as well."

"Wow…" Moon eased herself down onto a nearby tree stump, knees pressed up to her chest.

"Artemis figured it would be for the best if Warrior Venus were to disappear, so I stopped transforming for a while. But then they started searching and hunting for me, wanting to draw me out. So we needed a way to make sure Warrior Venus wouldn't be search for." Venus trailed off and glanced off into the distance.

"Don't stop the story there!" Moon cried.

Venus gave the girl a smile before continuing. "We faked my death."

"How?"

"Artemis began laying traps for the Dark Kingdom to follow, clues that I would be meeting up with another Warrior in the city, obviously a lie. But it worked, they sent a horde of Youma to the location and once we were all there Artemis set off a bomb."

"What? That's so risky!" Moon cried and leaned in closer.

"It worked though." she shrugged. "I was able to make it out alive, and laid low for a bit. Of course the crime rates went back up through the roof after that. That's when I became went back to Sailor V."

"So cool…"

"It was still a bit too risky though, so we relocated to Japan. Artemis said I should refrain from transforming until we had discovered the Moon Princess, or at least other Warriors. I probably shouldn't have transformed back there, but –"

"But nothing!" Moon yelped and hopped from the stump, moving closer to the girl "Artemis was hurt, and I was useless against that thing! You saved us."

"Yeah..."

Moon's bottom lip quivered and she embraced Venus in a tight hug, sobbing heavily into her shoulder. "That thing was so scary..."

"I know it was…" Venus said, running her hand in a circle on the girl's back. "That's why we need to find it and take it down."

Moon pulled back and gave Venus and uneasy nod. This was their job, but she wasn't sure how she'd feel seeing that creature up close again. "How are we going to find it?"

"No need to find me!" The girls jumped to the feet and whipped around to see Furfur standing on the trunk of a fallen tree a few yards away. Fires were still alive on its back, and the creature glared down at them as it took slow steps closer.

"It can talk!" Moon shouted while unintentionally hiding behind Venus.

Furfur let out a hard laugh before it spoke again, in its rough voice. "Foolish girl!" Furfur opened its mouth again and a ball of fire shot out from it. The Warriors hit the ground and watched the ball fly overhead.

"Is that slash attack of yours all you can do?" Venus asked quickly, Moon nodded back without thinking. "Then I'll distract him, attack when you get an opening. Don't worry about me being in the way." Venus pushed off from the ground and darted off from Moon. The girl stretched a hand out to her but quickly retracted it as Furfur landed in front of her before it gave chase after Venus.

* * *

Haruka tapped her fingers against the steering wheel while Michiru looked over a scanner in her lap. "How's it looking?"

The other woman simply shook her head. "They're nowhere to be found on the map. Minako's motorcycle should be outside the park by looking at its location."

"Someone's toying with us." Haruka snarled before peeling off around the corner to head to the park's entrance.

"So, what do you propose we do?" Michiru asked pleasantly as they parked again.

"We go in and bring them out." Haruka popped the trunk and made her way to the back of the car. "Those girls don't stand a chance against it alone." In the trunk of a black sports car Haruka had several automatic weapons stacked up. "Call Kalla and get him to rally the SAT to our location."

* * *

Perched in a tree Warrior Moon watched Furfur chase Venus around a clearing that was littered with large rocks and trees that had been split in half. She kept her lance at her side, waiting for a chance when the monster wasn't leaping around to strike.

Venus had hurled her disc at the monster numerous times, and each time the wounds she inflicted all seemed to heal just a moment later. She was becoming frustrated and with fireballs burning down the nearby trees, she was quickly running out of places to hide.

"Venus is toast down there if I don't help her!" Moon said as she held her lance out to the side, charging energy into the blade. "Moon Blade Slash!" With a wide swing she sent a wave of energy flying down towards Furfur.

The beast whipped its head in Moon's direction before it leapt off the ground, avoiding the attack. From behind the beast charged Venus. The Warrior jumped onto its back and lunged forward, looping the razor chains of disc around its throat before Furfur began to thrash around.

"Again!" Venus shouted, feeling the fires on Furfur's back heating her thighs.

"Moon Blade Slash!" Moon made another swing with her lance but wavered on the branch as nothing came from the blade. "Why isn't it working?" She shook the weapon around and gave a few more swings before the blade began to grow. "I got it!"

On the ground Furfur managed to throw Venus and send her tumbling across the ground. The beast viciously began to shake, knocking the chains off from around its neck before it stomped its feet against the disc, breaking it into numerous pieces "Such reckless abandon!"

"Moon Blade Slash!" Moon cried and sent another wave to Furfur which the beast leapt to avoid before he fired a ball of fire at Moon. The girl yelped before she jumped from the tree and hit the ground rolling.

"Picking on girls, how pitiful." From the trees came a voice Warrior Moon was beginning to recognize.

"Show yourself!" Furfur growled before five darts were fired through the foliage and pierced his body. "Gah!"

Moon crawled forward slowly to take a look at one of the darts that had flown straight through Furfur's body. A red dart, shaped like a thorn. "Tuxedo Mask!" She called out happily as she scanned the tree tops for the sharp-dressed hero.

As the holes in Furfur's body closed up Venus stretched out a hand and the fragments of chain and disc surrounding the beast began to glow orange. As the Warrior clenched her fist the fragments shot up off the ground and sliced through Furfur's body before they crashed back down into the ground, slicing through the beast's body again.

"Are you alright?" Mask dropped down beside Venus and rested a hand against her back.

"Heh, I'm fine! But how are you?" Venus commented as she sat up.

Mask smiled at that, at their last encounter he had barely been able to stand and needed her help even getting home. "Better thanks to you and the Guard."

"I'm okay!" Moon shouted across the clearing, upset Tuxedo Mask didn't come to her first. "Thanks for asking!

Between them Furfur staggered to his feet, the cuts on his body closing up slowly. "You'll pay for that!" He growled the fire on his back coming to life again, this time more fierce than before. Smoke billowed out from his nose as he fired a ball at Moon. The girl squealed and threw herself behind the tree.

As Venus rose to her feet her disc reformed in her hand a moment later. "Where is the Guard? I expected them to be here by now."

Mask nodded in agreement before tossing the sheath of his cane off. "Take this." From his pocket he revealed a small earpiece that he tossed to Venus.

Venus situated the piece in her ear as the masked man rushed off to face Furfur, dashing around the beast while making large slashes on it legs.

"Hello?" Venus said, tapping the earpiece while the static she was hearing cleared.

"Minako!" Haruka shouted through the piece.

"Ow... What?"

"Where the hell are you?!"

"The park, where else?" Venus turned her back on the fight and gave her attention to a nearby tree that she began to climb. "The question is, where are _you_?

"The park as well, but the location of your bike it's far beyond the park's boundaries. By looking at the map you should be almost half a mile away from the park."

"What...?" Venus watched as Furfur dodged a slash by Moon and Mask continued to sneak attack. "We're in a clearing in the woods, how is that even possible?"

"Best guess is some kind of trick or magic that creature is using. We're trying to find a way to get to you."

"You really think this deer thing has the power to use that kind of magic?"

"Who else?"

"Um I don't know. I'm thinking of an organization known for recruiting monsters and has extensive knowledge of magic and dark magic."

"I haven't spotted any Dark Kingdom lackeys."

"Damn."

"Anyway, Michiru is working on pinpointing your location to plot a course, but it's hard to find you guys in there."

"Why don't you come the way Mask came?"

"We tried, it just led us in a circle."

"Haruka, what if we find our way back to you instead?" Venus asked. "I'm pretty sure this beast will follow us no matter where we go. If we can leave the woods and out into the park again, you can take out in the open. Nothing we do seems to be working in here."

"Fine. We'll start preparing, get out fast."

* * *

"You don't look so good." Zoisite teased as he sauntered over to Jadeite, the man was pale and covered in a cold sweat. Sustaining the connection to the forest was taking its toll on him. "I imagine in your current state you're not fit for this kind of enchantment."

"My current state..." Jadiete repeated. "What the hell do you know?"

"I know enough." Zoisite said coldly before slapping a hand onto Jadeite's back. The man stiffened before clenching his hands together tighter. "Careful Jadeite. If you lose the Warrior, again, Beryl will have your head."

* * *

"Incoming!" Mask shouted and the two Warriors ahead of him dove behind a tree and watched as a fireball flew past.

"I see the bike!" Moon shouted before tearing away from the tree with Venus and making their way to the bike. "What about you?" she asked as Mask followed after them.

"Don't worry about me Warrior Moon; it's important you two make it out." The masked man nodded to Venus before he leapt onto the fallen tree and began to make his way up higher into the treetops.

"Let's ride Moon." Venus revved the engine as the heavy footsteps of Furfur reached them from behind. Moon hopped onto the bike and barely had her arms around Venus when the girl peeled out of the spot they were in.

"Is he really going to be okay?" Moon asked with her eyes focused on the treetops. Occasionally she caught sight of Mask leaping from branch to branch.

"Don't worry about him, Moon, he's tough." Venus said as they rode off a small cliff and onto a beaten path.

"Oh! I can see the exit!" Moon shouted and threw a hand forward to point to a light at the end of a row of trees.

"Nice!" Venus cheered as the bike flew through the opening, snapping the handle to the side the bike skidded on the grass as it slowed in the middle of park.

"They're out!" A man shouted over an intercom. "Fire on the next thing to come out of those trees!"

"No! Tuxedo Mask!" Moon shouted, gripping Venus' arm tightly.

"Relax, you wouldn't come out of the trees if you heard that would you?" Venus assured and kept her eyes on the opening as the sound of hooves approached.

"Whoa..." Moon said as the turned around on the bike, taking in all that was around her. A fleet of black vehicles including cars, trucks, and vans formed a barricade of sorts in an arc around the thicket they'd gone into.

Beyond that she could see several groups of three standing yards away from each other, all facing one another doing some kind of chanting. Standing a few feet away was the blonde individual with her aquamarine haired friend and surrounding them enough men and women with guns to make up an army platoon. "What is all this?"

"The Silver Guard." Venus answered.

Moon was content to stare at the set-up around them until Furfur trampled his way into the opening and bullets immediately began to fly. Furfur emitted a cry as bullets ripped through his flesh and forced the beast onto the ground.

"Cease fire!" The man on the intercom commanded. "Casters, move in!"

"He sounds familiar..." Moon muttered.

From beyond the line of vehicles came a group of men wearing purple cloaks who all positioned themselves down in front of Haruka and Michiru. The men began to chant and soon were all covered by a blue aura.

Moon watched in awe as three blue balls of light began to circle Furfur before implanting themselves in the ground around him. From the points they entered came thin blue lines that shot into the sky before connecting with each other and spreading out to form a pyramid of light around the creature.

"NO!" Furfur roared as he struggled to his feet, his deer-like body now bulging in some areas. Moon watched as his thick thighs seemed to shrink in an instant to the size of normal human legs. The sound of bones crunching made her twinge as his body began to change shape, his snout was forced back into his skull and the action reshaped his entire head.

The wriggling creature continued to howl in pain, now as his horns shrunk into his skull and his arms shrunk back into his body. The fires on his back died and from the holes came white wings.

"Old man Hino was right after all, he is an angel." Haruka smiled and rested a hand on the shoulder of one of the three men. Their chanting then changed and the pyramid broke apart around Furfur before the lights attached themselves to his wrists and ankles. Slowly, the now nude angel was lifted into the air and brought close to Haruka.

"Start talking." Haruka demanded. Furfur's head bobbed around before he focused his eyes on her.

"What do you want?" He groaned and glanced to the Warriors who were watching him closely.

"Information." Haruka reached forward and roughly grabbed the man's chin, forcing his attention back to her. "Start talking."

"You dare lay your hands on me!" He growled, saliva sprayed in her face when he spoke.

Haruka rolled her eyes before brandishing a small dagger from her waist and forcing it into the angel's abdomen.

"C'mon Moon, let's go." Venus said softly and started the engine before pulling out of the park.

* * *

"JADEITE!" The sheer volume of Beryl's voice caused the atmosphere in the chamber to become heavier, forcing Jadeite and the team of Youma behind him to fall over. Beryl snarled and stared into her murky orb, the image of Furfur being chopped into pieces and burned by the Guard displeased her. "For your sake you had better tell me Experiment-M is completing her job better than Iguara did."

"My Queen, the last report I received from her she said things were going well..." he replied, forcing himself into a bowing position before extending a hand, his fingers curled up slightly as a blue amorphous ball of energy appeared in it. "Her energy collection my Queen, it seems the restaurant she's stationed in is allowing her to constantly bring in new workers to feed on. And our formula for draining energy from humans while they eat is flawless."

Beryl's eyes remained in their hooded state as the energy floated away from Jadeite and directly up to the ceiling. "Even that isn't enough to make up for all your failures Jadeite."

"I apologize, my Queen."

"Do not apologize or make excuses! Simply accomplish what I ask of you!" Beryl shifted in her seat and moved her hands around her orb in a robotic way. "Because of your incompetence a second Cosmic Warrior has been awakened!" Through her orb she saw the Warrior take down the Youma, unfortunately she couldn't conjure up a clear image of the girl before she had transformed.

"Rest assured my Queen I am taking the next plan on myself."

"Oh?" Beryl asked, genuinely shocked.

"Yes, I will be infiltrating and gathering energy on my own, the remaining Experiment-D-U-D clones will be assisting me as backup." Jadeite daringly rose to his feet and wavered slightly, feeling something tug sharply within him.

"Very well, you are dismissed." she waved a hand at him and his body quickly vanished from her sight.

"My Queen." From the floor in front of her came another voice, deeper and tenderer as the figure of a man rose out of the ground. "Why do you continue to let him fail you?"

Beryl raised her eyebrows at the man and smiled. "Are you suggesting you would succeed where he cannot?"

"Yes." he answered knowingly.

"Well then, for now be prepared for when I do call for you. I sense Jadeite's time with us is coming to a close."

"Yes my Queen." As quickly as he had appeared the man sunk back down into the stone floor and he too was gone from her chamber.

* * *

End of Chapter Seven**  
**

* * *

Next, Naru is in danger once again, is she bad luck? Warrior Moon, Luna, and Artemis come face to face with a new threat from the Dark Kingdom, a man-eating Youma! Could this all have been part of Ami's plan? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Eight- Years of Conspiracy **


	8. Years of Conspiracy

**Cosmic Warriors  
**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, or their original owners, respectively.

**Note: **Thanks always for the feedback and to JulietShadow and SadieSwirl for being my beta readers.

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT - ****Years of Conspiracy**

* * *

The next morning Usagi met up with Naru outside of OSA-P and the two started gabbing about what happened. To her surprise, Naru wasn't anything like she was expecting, but rather her normal chatty self. After defeating Iguara, and having Furfur taken down, all the owners seemed to return to normal immediately after.

"Usagi, did you watch the news this morning?" Naru asked, fixing her hair while Usagi held her books.

"Nope, I was in a rush to get here." Usagi answered with a sigh. She was in such a hurry she forgot to grab her lunch. They'd agreed to get to school early to talk to Ami about rescheduling now that Naru was feeling 100% again.

"Oh, well it was so weird! None of the normal news people were on this morning." Naru said and bobbed her head.

"Maybe they all got fired." Usagi deadpanned, her dreams were filled with the haunting face of the monster from the previous day. Her constant tossing and turning left her exhausted.

"Nah, the new people would have mentioned it if they had, it was like no one even noticed." Naru said and shrugged.

"Hello girls!" Ami called from down the street, holding an armful of books with one hand and waving with the other.

"Oh hi Ami." Naru waved to the girl. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well, but how are you? I heard about what happened yesterday." Ami said meekly.

"Ami, how much did you hear about it? I mean... What are the news people saying?" Usagi asked as she leaned in close.

"Well, there are a couple different stories going around. The news didn't say too much about it, but a lot of people think that it's a movie stunt gone wrong, some say that it was some zoo animal that escaped..." Ami said as she leaned against the store front. "There is going to be a big investigation about the Pet Shop."

"No way! From the zoo?" Naru cried.

"I don't believe it either, but it's hard to say for sure what really did happen. However it must not have been too serious if Sailor V was there." Ami looked side to side to the girls, especially to Usagi waiting to hear her thoughts.

"Sailor V huh?" Usagi said, her eye twitching. "You know I heard there was another heroine there too!"

"Did you see Sailor V's new costume?" asked Naru. "Very stylish."

Usagi's jaw dropped as she gasped at Naru. Was Warrior Moon not already a house-hold name?

"What do you guys think that thing was? I mean could it have been some zoo animal, or something else? Someone got a fews pictures of it and was passing them around." From under her stack of books Ami was clutching a small Polaroid photo, she quickly flipped the picture over before showing the girls.

Naru snatched it away and held it in close to get a good look at it, Usagi was less anxious about seeing the beast again. But sure enough on the photo was the monster that looked like a deer with its enormous limbs. Although the picture was from a distance, Usagi could tell Furfur was ramming the front of a car ready. In her mind she saw its massive body flying across the street and the damage it had done to Artemis.

"Oh it was real all right..." Usagi said, speaking to the photo.

Ami looked forward at a street people and at a flyer stippled to the pole. "Look!" Ami exclaimed, pushing off the wall and grabbing the flyer. "It's an ad for Stack Attack, I heard they have good food."

"My dad seems to like it." Usagi said and looked to Naru who kept staring at the beast. "We went once; I think I gained about ten pounds from it!" she whined on.

Ami bit her lip, her eyes scanning over the paper. "Do you think we have enough time to go before school?" Ami asked to the girls.

"You wanna go there? Don't you usually get to school really early though, to read?" Naru asked handing the picture back.

"If we leave now and eat quickly, we can make it there and to the school before the bell!"

"I don't recommend it Ami, I felt so fat after eating it, and lazy!" Usagi poked her flat stomach that jiggled a little due to it not being firm like she wanted.

"Usagi, you've always been lazy." Naru reminded.

"I have a craving for something sweet!" Ami squealed, Naru and Usagi looked at her with some degree of concern, they'd never seen her act like this.

"If you say so, but just remember that we warned you when you can't fit into your uniform anymore." Naru said with a shrug.

"Excuse me."

From behind them came the voice of Luna, Usagi turned ardently and twitched her eyes taking in Luna's appearance. The girl came trotting up to them, her black curls bouncing around until she stopped moving. Unlike yesterday, she was wearing the same school uniform as the girls, except she managed to fill it out better.

"I heard you say you were going to Stack Attack, can I join you?"

"Sure!"

"Of course!"

"No."

Luna, Naru, and Ami looked to Usagi who stared at Luna with a look that could kill, if she had such a power.

"You don't want me coming, Usagi?" Luna asked.

"It's not that! I just mean... You probably have something more important to do!" Usagi moved in close and gave her a death stare.

"As a matter of fact, I don't. It seems a lot of places around town aren't open yet, but Stack Attack is, and I've wanted to visit for a while." she answered innocently.

"Where's Artemis?" Usagi inquired.

"Resting." Luna reassured her with a tilt of her head. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason!" Usagi shouted and spun around, heading off up the sidewalk in the direction of Stack Attack.

"Who's Artemis?" Naru asked before following after Usagi.

* * *

Ami smiled pleasantly and rubbed the sides of her jaws. "Oh, those pancakes were delicious!" Ami covered her mouth while she spoke, the syrup on her blueberry stack sending her taste buds into frenzy.

The four girls sat in a booth near the door, Luna made a fuss about sitting with Usagi and sitting so that they could watch both the door and the register. All of the girls were almost done with their stacks, but Luna ate with more regard for the people around her, taking her time cutting up her food and eating slowly.

"That was better than the first E-Z Stack!" Naru dropped her fork onto her plate while she yawned.

"Mhm!" Usagi agreed and rubbed her stomach.

"Maybe if I come here again I'll try what you girls had." Luna placed her silverware down onto the place which had just two pancakes on it topped with butter and syrup.

"Mine was wonderful too." Ami said as she ate the last blueberry off her fork before putting it on her napkin.

"I'll go get the check!" Naru offered and scooted out from the booth.

Due to the attack the previous day most places were nearly empty, only a few other people occupied tables in the restaurant.

"Excuse me; can I get a check please?" Naru asked over the sound of the bell she was ringing on the counter. "Hello?"

Naru balanced on her tiptoes waiting at the counter, seeing no sign of anyone moving behind the wall that separated the lounge from the kitchen.

"Anyone back there?" she asked and moved to the side of the counter. She hummed for a moment before moving to peer into the kitchen as far as she could without going behind the register. She gasped at what she saw, a pair of legs laying still on the floor.

Her skin went pale as she rushed back behind the register and around the wall. "Oh my gosh are you okay?" She stopped dead in her tracks at what lay before her.

Just a few inches from her was the body of a worker of the restaurant, his body covered in blood. His stomach had been torn open and hunched over him was something resembling a human.

Long frail fingers and hands were pushed together to form a cup that scooped blood out from the body of the man. Its skin was pale with dark spots on it; the body, naked and gaunt. Long raven hair covered the monsters face from Naru's view, but the slurping sound it made assured her that the creature had a mouth.

"U-U-U-U-Usa..." Naru stammered, hoping the monster wouldn't hear.

Naru lifted a foot, taking a slow step backwards and bumped into the door, her eyes clamped shut as the thud of the handle hitting the wall echoed in the kitchen. The beast dropped its hands and turned slowly, its matted dark hair kept most of its face from view. But as it turned to face Naru, she could see its piercing blue eyes and blood stained lips fixed in a perfect pout.

"M-M-Meg-umi... Is that you?" Naru asked.

The creature tilted her head to Naru and turned to face her completely. Her smile widening as the skin around her mouth ripped and revealed sharp rows of teeth and a mouth larger than any human's should be. She stood slowly, her hair falling over her breasts, blood and bits of flesh falling from her razor like teeth.

Naru fled from the kitchen, breaking away from the monster and hurling herself around the counter. "USAGI!" Her friends rose from their seats to see a hysterical Naru coming for them.

"Naru, what's wrong?" Usagi asked.

"It's – it's Megumi, she's a monster!" Naru blubbered. "She ate someone!"

Ami, Usagi and all the other customers shuddered and looked to Naru. Luna however, was focused on the kitchen and moved to the center of the room.

"What do you mean a monster?" Ami questioned, sliding from the booth.

"She was drinking someone's blood, and she was naked, and her mouth!" Naru cried and her fingers jittered around her own lips before burying her face into Usagi's chest, weeping heavily.

"Everyone head to the exit!" Luna commanded. It didn't take a second warning for everyone in the place to storm out.

Usagi stood in the doorway calling for Luna to come outside. Luna kept her eyes on the kitchen door while she backed up to Usagi, only to pull her inside then shut and lock the door.

"Luna!" Usagi shrieked, tugging on the door as Luna ran along the booths.

One by one, Luna tugged on strings near the windows, causing the blinds to drop down. She then stepped into one of the booths and began pushing the seats in front of the door.

"Luna, please stop blocking the exit!" Usagi cried and struggled to push the booth back.

"Hello." From the kitchen doorway came the stifling voice of Megumi, now looking deranged as a man-eating monster. Her jaw was lower than normal and bits of flesh lingered along rows of sharp fangs, blood coated her chin and bits of it dripped down onto her skin.

"I never imagined the Dark Kingdom would be using Youma like this." Luna said to Usagi who was still trying to push the booth away. "How long have you been here?"

"I've been around for a few years now, hopping from place to place. I hid out in the woods for a bit this summer, but now I'm back." Megumi took slow steps forward until she reached the center of the room. "I had been around this place last spring, until some bratty blonde chased me out." She cast Usagi a deadly glare that caused the girl to whimper and collapse into the booth.

"Please don't kill me!"

"She must be talking about Minako." Luna assured and stepped in between Usagi and the monster. "It looks like we'll be finishing what they started."

"You two? Well I hope you're stronger than they were. Even though they did leave some nasty marks..." Megumi let out a bloody cackle as she turned her back on them, giving Usagi a glimpse of her perfectly rounded butt, more importantly a series of welts on her back that looked like a whip made them.

"Even as a monster she's gorgeous..." Usagi sighed.

"Usagi!"

"Sorry!"

"What are you waiting for?" Luna shouted, turning slightly to glance at her.

"Right…" Usagi looked to her wrist and snatched up the charm.

She shook as her skin felt alive, a prickling sensation starting in her toes that raced through her body. The entire restaurant burst with the light from Usagi which ended as an optical flare. Once it died down she stood in her suit, her lance tip pressed onto the tile floor while her hands rested at the grip.

Megumi's eyes narrowed that the Warrior. "Jadeite warned me something like this could happen." she hissed.

"Glad to know I was right about who is behind this." Luna said and stepped to the side, giving Moon room to attack.

"Right you are!" Megumi screeched and charged Warrior Moon who pushed off from the ground and sidestepped the assault. She stumbled in the direction of the lance crashing into one of the tables and looked back to see Megumi pushing against the booth barricade Luna created.

"Get to it Moon!" Luna called out.

"But what if I hurt Megumi?" Moon whimpered.

Megumi screeched again and lurched to Moon. She jumped into the air and her jaw seemed to unhinge itself as it widened, giving Moon a full view of all the teeth she possessed.

"She's just like that woman from the pet shop yesterday!"

Moon screamed and held her weapon with both hands above her, feeling Megumi's weight hit down on it before she buckled under the pressure. Moon hit the floor, her lance grip breaking free from her hands as it stuck fast into Megumi's torso.

Grabbing hold of the hilt, she whined and pushed her foot into Megumi's side, wanting desperately to free the weapon. She managed to wiggle it free, but the sound of the flesh being torn and the blood gushing out made her instantly queasy.

"Get to your feet Moon!" Luna shouted.

"Luna, why don't you do this? I don't wanna fight her!" Moon stabilized herself on her feet, and stepped back from the body slowly. "I think she's dead anyway..."

"Don't be a fool!" Luna shouted and rushed to her side, forcing her to hold the lance up. "Creatures like that live off blood and it seems like she's been feeding regularly. A stab wound like that won't stop her, so stay on your guard." she whispered to her slowly, wanting her to understand the difference once and for all.

"Wait, creatures like her?" Moon asked weakly.

"She's called a Youma, a demon that works for the Dark Kingdom. Unlike Experiments, they are only monsters _pretending _to be human, but they're true demonic forms lie hidden under the surface."

"Where do all these things come from...?"

"You're so weak." Megumi said, rising to her feet slowly, the wound in her chest closing up.

Moon shut her eyes and, with some help from Luna, charged forward with her lance pointed out to stab. Megumi slammed a hand down on it, knocking it off its path while she avoided Moon's charge. Moon recovered and swung the lance upwards, hoping, more than aiming, for it to connect.

The weight of the sword was taking its toll on her; her swings were more about getting the weapon to go where she wanted rather than guiding it.

Moon continued to slash and jab at Megumi who effortlessly dodged and parried the blocks with boney hands.

"Moon, open your eyes and attack her!" Luna screamed from the sidelines, disappointed by her lack of effort.

"I can't, it's too weird to stab her and see it!" Moon whined flailing the lance, not because she expected to hit anything but because it was her way of showing her frustration.

"Your friends and family will be in danger if you let this creature escape!"

"I know..." Moon cried and gripped the lance together, her palms burning and her fingers becoming stiff.

Megumi opened her mouth wide, her jaw unlatching and showing the dark cavern within before clamping down on the lance blade. Moon opened her eyes and groaned as she tried to free her blade, pulling and pushing which failed as Megumi's bite grew stronger.

Moving the blade to the side was a bust as well, she couldn't understand where the strength of her bite came from. Moon closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, trying to muster the power to pull free. She then tightened her hold on the lance grip and the blade began to glow, illuminating the inside of Megumi's mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth lined as far as her throat from what she could see.

"Moon Blade!" Moon shouted as the lance blade itself extended quickly tearing through the back of Megumi's throat and sticking out in the back of her head. "Slash!"

Moon jerked the blade to the left and the restaurant lit up with light as a disc of energy was fired from the blade. It sliced through Megumi's jaw, all the way to the back of her head, leaving only half of her head still connected. The blast from the swing sliced through the roof of the restaurant creating a thin oval of an opening.

Moon's swing sent her spinning around, the blade hitting the ground and shrinking to its original size before the glow ended. Megumi cried in pain as she crouched down before she leapt to the ceiling, breaking through it and crawling away.

Moon screamed and dashed to the right to avoid some falling ceiling chunks and boards of wood and Luna rushed to her side to help her up.

"Moon, come with me!"

"But my friends are out there!" Moon looked to the door as she panted.

"They can't see you as you are, now hurry!"

Luna led her behind the counter while she dragged her lance behind her that was weighing more than ever now as she stepped into the kitchen. Her first sight was of the dead body to her right, a pool of blood spreading beside him. Further away she spotted the limbs of a few more bodies; the only reason she refused to throw up would be because it would all end up inside her mask.

Holding back bile she followed after Luna who was busting through the backdoor exit. Once they were outside Moon saw the sun's rays above being disrupted by the body of Megumi flying from roof to roof.

"Luna, what do we do?" Moon whined and looked around the small back alley, seeing no way for her to get onto the roof.

Luna rushed out towards the exit, poking her head out to look around the street. She whipped a cell phone from her pocket and mashed down the buttons before holding it to her ear.

"Luna..." Moon whispered as she crept up behind her. Luna waved a hand at her as the person on the other end picked up.

Moon grabbed hold of the mask at its base and pushed it upwards, allowing her to get a breath of fresh air.

"Artemis!" Luna yelled into the phone.

"What's up?"

Moon smiled once she heard the familiar voice reply as she leaned in close.

"Moon and I have encountered a Youma you and Minako were chasing." Luna said, still looking around the street.

"Alright, we'll pick up the trace and intercept her." Artemis answered.

"No, I want Moon to take this one." Luna said and glanced to the Warrior to catch her uneasy gaze.

"You want me to what?! Luna, I can't be late for school…" Moon commented, looking for any excuse not to see this through.

"Send Minako as a decoy for Usagi. The three of us will track the Youma." Luna looked around the street, taking note of the street signs and nearby buildings before giving their location to Artemis.

"We're in the area, we'll be there in a minute."

"Okay." Luna said before ending the call and taking Moon back into the alley.

"Decoy?" she asked.

"Stop asking questions." Luna said as she looked Moon up and down before slapping a hand onto the mask, forcing it down to cover her face.

"Shouldn't we stay to talk to the police or something? I mean..." Moon grumbled and looked to the restaurant door, thinking about the bodies left inside. "People are dead in there."

"The Guard will come to take care of that. There will be some pretending to be citizens who will claim to have been inside the restaurant and others will be officers taking statements from anyone who really was inside and wants to stick around."

"Speaking of that!" Moon huffed. "Naru said the news reporters weren't the same this morning, and there are all kinds of stories going around about what happened last night."

"It's for the best Moon, trust me." Luna answered.

Looking over her shoulder as she heard the sound of a small motor engine. On a red scooter were Minako and Artemis, the latter looking much too big to be riding on the back of the small vehicle.

"Minako Aino, at your service." Minako said pulling the scooter into the alley. "Hey Usagi!" She waved.

"Hey there, so why is she here again?"

"Moon, you'll need to skip the rest of school today while we follow Megumi." Luna answered, her eyes focused on Artemis who seemed to still be in pain.

He was rushed to the Guard's HQ last night and treated immediately, thankfully some of the city's best doctors work for them and they were able to heal him instantly. However Luna could tell he still wasn't feeling 100% yet.

"What?!"

Minako stepped up to the ground after leaning the scooter against the wall and Usagi took notice of her clothes. Short blue shorts and a white dress shirt that looked too big to belong to her. On top of her head were red glasses that matched the heels she was wearing.

"Some double buns, your school uniform and then I'll be ready to go." She winked again, aiming a finger gun at Moon.

Reluctantly, Moon changed back into her school clothes and switched with Minako. She saw her off before changing back into Warrior Moon and heading off with Artemis and Luna.

"I hope she didn't get too far." Artemis said. He sat uncomfortably close to the handles of Minako's scooter after having to fit all three of them onto it.

"Moon injured her pretty bad, I don't think she'd get too far. She'll leave behind a trail of blood no matter where she goes." Luna added with her head resting on his back and arms wrapped around his abdomen. She was careful not to press onto his wound.

Warrior Moon sat on the very edge of the seat. With each bump in the road, she feared she would fall off at any moment. "The Guard can't afford any better transportation than this?" she groaned.

With the roll of his eyes Artemis sped up and caused the blond to squeal. "We don't have time to stop and get a better ride." he huffed.

"How are we going to find her?" Moon whimpered, gripping onto the seat fearfully.

"I've got the Guard tracking her, when they get a lock on her we'll get a call." Artemis assured.

"I see." Moon mumbled to herself as she watched the painted lines on the road pass by. "Hey Luna, what are Youma exactly?"

The raven haired woman sighed and turned to look at Moon who was staring at her plainly behind her mask. "They're monsters recruited by the Dark Kingdom; they've gathered hoards of them from all of the darkest places of the world and made them work for them."

"Darkest places of the world huh?"

"It's a figure of speech..." Luna sighed, knowing the girl was going to take it literally.

"It's actually not." Artemis added as he turned a corner. "The Guard has made lots of progress in tracking the movements of the Dark Kingdom. We've come to the conclusion a majority of the creatures under their control seem to come from somewhere in Europe. But that's as far as we can track them, there's no telling where exactly they originated from."

"Europe?! So far away? Then why are they here?" Moon gasped, feeling like she may just be unlucky to be dealing with all of this.

"You're not alone in this, the Dark Kingdom have attacked other places before. The Guard has been dealing with them for quite some time in hopes to put a stop to them before things get out of hand." Luna assured as she saw Artemis check a small device with a blinking screen. "Have you found her?"

"Almost, they're trying to pinpoint her location now."

"How many people are in the Guard exactly?" Moon piped in.

"I couldn't give you a round number." Luna shook her head. "Although there are specialists within the Guard, the majority of our members are regular humans who were descendents of those who were once allies with the Moon Kingdom. Back then humans and our kind got along harmoniously, and when the Kingdom fell not everyone chose to forget about it. The story of our lives were still told on Earth and they were passed down from generation to generation."

"When the Guard was formed in the mid 1900's it was mostly a group of believers, using that name to guardthe history of our people, that is until they found the Protectors." Artemis added, speeding up as a red dot appeared on the device.

"Protectors? What do they protect?" Moon asked, fully intrigued now.

"Among the kind of specialists I mentioned, are the Protectors. A group of thirteen warriors from the Silver Millennium who have sworn their lives to protecting life their home. During the attack on our Kingdom the Protectors were present when the Queen sent the Princess and the others here. Since then the Protectors made it their goal to keep Earth under control until the Princess was found. The original Protectors however, was only made up of three people."

For another five minutes or so the trio rode in silence. Moon let the information settle in as she was finally beginning to realize how far back everything went. How it wasn't just about her protecting herself and friends any longer.

People had been protecting her home long before she was born, or reborn, with hopes of keeping evil under control until the savior arrived. She was now among that group whose duty it was to protect and serve, in hopes of bringing an era of peace.

* * *

Making his way to the storage freezer, Junior Detective Dewi stepped over the mangled body of a young man. He didn't want to look at his face, but part of him still wanted to.

Terrified, blank eyes stared up at him. He felt a chill race down his spine and looked away. The air was thick with the smell of blood and death, and it was only getting stronger the closer he came to the freezer.

A flash of light caught him off guard and the man shuttered. Glaring around him he saw a thin man snapping pictures of blood splatter on the walls. The kitchen of Stack Attack he and his superior had been called to, was crawling with investigators and police.

Dewi tensed up when a heavy hand dropped onto his shoulder, his mind flashing to the corpse that lay a few feet away.

"Relax." Detective Kalla worked his hand on the tense shoulder of his partner. "It's your first crime scene, but we still have a job to do."

"I know that!" Dewi barked before shrugging off the man's hand. "I didn't expect it to look like this though." Dewi gestured to the inside of the storage freezer.

Stacked atop one another inside the small 8 by 10 freezer, were bodies. Enough to reach the ceiling. All of them mutilated, drained of their blood, and long dead. Whatever massacre had gone down inside had left the floors and walls stained with the soft pink of poorly wiped away blood.

"Have you checked all the bodies?" Kalla asked. Dewi gave a hard nod and Kalla regarded it with a nod of his own. "Any conclusions on the type killer?"

"A Youma obviously." Dewi answered plainly.

"What makes you so sure?" Kalla tested, maneuvering around the man and inside the freezer.

"Must we play this game?" Dewi asked, although the two of them worked in the same field, he never understood Kalla's almost playful attitude when it came to these things.

"It's a Youma because... Take it away Dewi." Kalla redirected.

Detective Dewi rubbed his forehead before he sighed. "No human could have done all of this. The bodies out on the floor, they were all freshly killed, their bodies torn open and their blood drained. None of the tools needed to do something like that would be found in a restaurant's kitchen."

"Good job, now you know exactly what _not_ to put in the report to the Superintendent." Kalla said with a smile. "You learn quick."

* * *

"I don't care what your editor wants, stop calling him Kamp Killer!" exclaimed Superintendent Natsuna Sakurada of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Force. She paused, listening to the voice on the other end, her irritation growing. "Because it only glorifies the crimes!"

"I don't know what you want from me, I'm not interested in your business of dramatizing real life events, my job is to catch the bastard!" she barked into the phone, slapping a hand onto her desk. She shot the man delivering mail an evil glare, simply because he was in her eyesight.

As the man on the other end of the line continued to yap, Natsuna dropped the phone from her ear and rested her head against her wrist. "Bye." she said openly before slamming the phone down onto its base. "UGH!"

"Problems Superintendent?" A man that had been waiting outside, poked his head into the office.

Sakurada dropped back in her seat and let out a heavy sigh. She gave herself a moment to let her anger subside before calling on the man. "Come in, Wagaki."

Wakagi nodded before heading up to the Superintendent's desk. "I take it Yukan Fuji isn't letting up?"

"Apparently when tabloids run out of leads, they start knocking on the polices' door for answers." Sakurada pinched the bridge of her nose. "They think this is some kind of game."

"Here, this might cheer you up." Wagaki slid a clipboard onto her desk, Sakurada opened her eyes wide at it to take in what she was reading.

"Report on the Stack Attack scene, already?" Sakurada lifted up the board and started skimming over the documents.

"Just the initial findings, Detective Kalla seems to believe it was caused by some wild animal."

"Psh, Kalla." At the mention of the man's name Sakurada dropped the clipboard like it was a dirty pair of underwear. "That' half-baked gumshoe calls himself a detective."

"I never understood what it is you have against the guy." Wagaki mumbled, he assumed it was something personal, which meant it was something he was better off keeping out of.

"He's unreliable!" Sakurada roared. "An animal," she gestured to the clipboard. "if he can't tell its the Hannibal, then he needs to fork over his damn badge!"

Hannibal, the name the police used to address a serial killer that had been terrorizing Japan for the last few years. Named so because of the killer's cannibalistic tendency, similar to the fictional character of the same name that had gathered attention in the 80's.

"Wakagi, he needs to be stopped. I want Hannibal taken down." Sakurada tapped her nails against her desk.

"What makes you so sure it's a man?"

"Him, her, it. Doesn't matter." Sakurada ran her hand and in circles in front of Wakagi's face. "Doesn't matter, I want them found today."

"Today?"

"Today. Head into the field, follow any trail you can leading from the crime scene. Call the boys down at the pancake joint, have them start the search."

* * *

Artemis slowed down the scooter before he pulled into a thin alleyway and continued to putter down it.

"Is she around here?" Luna asked quickly.

"Yes. She's hiding somewhere in one of these building." Artemis pulled the bike to a stop in front of an opening off to the left where several dilapidated buildings stood.

The three of them moved away from the bike and stood in front of the buildings. Each of them had windows that were missing glass and simply had flaps of plastic covering them. There were cracks in the sides of them and discarded structures made of wood and metal had been left lying around by construction workers.

"Moon take left. Luna, right. I'll take the building in the center." Artemis commanded and stepped ahead of the ladies.

"Be careful." Luna reminded before stepping off to the right, leaving the Warrior behind.

"I _so, _do not wanna do this!" Moon whined and crept up to the building. Upon closer inspection she could see the entrance that was nothing more than a gap in the structure. "Anyone home?" she asked hopefully and peered into the building.

Inside was nothing but a single large room, it appeared to some sort of warehouse. There were shelves made of wood on the walls and discarded bags of cement littered around the ground.

"Guess she's not here!" Moon cheered and spun around to leave when the sound of feet pounding on pavement echoed through the warehouse. Warrior Moon turned in time to see Megumi charging for her, rows of teeth bared and ready to chomp down.

Megumi quickly dove for her, but Moon dashed off to the right with a scream and left Megumi to run straight through the entrance.

Moon scrambled to her feet and ran across the room and Megumi poked her head back inside "Come here little girl!" Megumi sneered and chased after Moon who was beginning to make a lap around the building.

"Noooo!" Warrior Moon whined as she continued to run from the beast fast on her heels before looking to her hand and balling it up into a fist.

In her mind the image of her lance appeared and soon her hand exploded with a burst of light before the weapon took shape. Moon skidded to a half before swinging around and slashing back with the blade. Megumi ducked to avoid it as the lance smashed into the wall beside her.

"You won't hit me with that!" She growled and held a hand up, bringing her bony fingers together to form a cone with her hand. As she did her nails began to grow and form into a single point. Moon whimpered before she pulled back and jabbed at her. Megumi parried off each blow with the backs of her hands before she managed to get in a few good jabs of her own.

* * *

Artemis walked around weakly as he clutched his side. He had been advised to rest for a while longer before heading into the field again, but typical of him he had refused the doctor's orders.

"Gah..." He sighed as he collapsed into a small chair that was situated inside what looked like an office.

His building had been the smallest. Only two stories, the first of which was a wide open space with a few pieces of construction tools scattered around. The second floor looked recently lived in however, there was a makeshift bed, some furniture, a desk and a board that had pictures and scraps of papers tacked to it.

Artemis spun in the chair and looked around the desk that was covered in documents and notes, all of which seemed like gibberish to him. He sighed and took his chances with the board, scanning over the pictures and papers attached to it, trying to make sense of it all.

His eyes zeroed in on a small clipping of what looked like a map that was cut around Europe. He tore it off the board and looked at it carefully. In red pen there were scribbles all around it and some dark marks circling a few places, but the darkest circle was around a south-eastern portion of Europe.

Artemis moved back to the desk and dropped the clipping down before resting an arm on the stacks of papers. His arm quickly slipped off something that made a budge in the stack and hit the desk with a thud.

"Ow..." He gently rubbed his elbow that was twinging and moved around some of the papers to find what was making it uneven. After tossing aside a stack of folders, Artemis stared down at a deep red gem in the shape of a square.

Slowly he picked it up and looked it over. It was clean and cut well, with seemingly no imperfections. "What are you doing here, pretty little gem?" He asked and tossed it between his hands before it began to glow.

"Whoa, stop it." He pleaded and shot up watching the gem closely as the glow came and went rapidly.

Soon the light that seemed to grow inside it broke free and flooded Artemis' vision with red. Before long, a vortex of red light opened around him, slowing sucking him inside and muffling the sound of his cries for help.

* * *

In the far right building Luna was warily making her way through, what appeared to be, an abandoned skeleton of an office building. Some walls had been finished, but most were still under construction. Sheets of waving plastic hung from would be door frames and empty crates of supplies lay toppled over.

"What is that smell?" She whispered to herself, unwilling to let it go unignored any longer. She had caught the odor the moment she entered and as she ventured deeper inside it had only gotten stronger. She continued to wander, mostly following her nose in hopes of finding the source of the stench.

She turned down an unfinished hallway, half of it was missing wall panels. As she walked, she was mindful of tools that were laying around. If Megumi was hiding, the last thing she needed was to trip over a power-saw and lose the element of surprise.

As Luna continued down the hall the items she found on the floor began to change. The tools, work belts, and nails she once found where now being replaced with shoes, hats, and some chunks of broken plastic.

Odd items to leave behind in a building under construction she thought. Crouching down she picked up one of the shoes and looked it over. "Small enough to belong to a girl..."

Her nostrils flared as the pungent odor hit her again, she dropped the shoe and hurried down the hall, coming to a T in her path.

She glanced from right to left, considering which way to go before looking to the floor, more items were on the ground in the right direction whereas the left was mostly clean.

Taking in a deep breath she headed off to the right and pressed herself against the wall, peeking around the corner to find another empty hallway, albeit smaller than before. Only about ten feet until the end where a single door was.

She clenched her fist and eased down the hall, reaching out slowly to the knob before turning and pushing the door open slightly. She counted off the seconds in her head before stepping in front of the door and kicking the door open wide.

Luna then rushed in and cupped her hands, a dark light forming between them. A Pappenheimer rapier hilt forming from the light before a thin sword blade completed the weapon.

Inside Luna squinted her eyes to see in the dim room and held her breath. She'd found the source of the smell. Luna changed her stance position every few seconds to make sure she had covered the entire room before coming the conclusion that she was alone. Dropping her guard she moved back to the door and shut it, her rapier vanishing as she moved back to the center and looked around.

It was a large room, one she guessed was used for meetings considering the long table placed within. She placed a hand against it and walked around the room. Three windows, all covered by ratty looking sheets and stacked along the walls were crates and boxes, that all looked full of something.

"Well..." she sighed moving towards the far wall where a large white tub was placed. "This shouldn't be here."

Crouching, she looked inside to see it full near the brim with a dark liquid. In the dim room it was too hard to tell the colour, but it didn't smell pleasant at all.

She glanced around her for something, anything that she could use to probe around inside. Ultimately she opted to leave the room and find something instead.

Luna returned a moment later with a stick of wood she'd broken in half. Back in front of the tub she dripped the stick in and swirled around the mixture.

Luna stood and carried the stick carefully over the window. "Let's see..." She ripped away the cloth and held up the stick. She watched the liquid drip off in thick crimson globs, looking more like a goo than liquid.

"Blood." She breathed heavily and dropped the stick. She headed back to the tub before falling down beside it after seeing what was floating at the top now. Her stirring had disturbed the contents inside that unfortunately was more than just blood.

Bobbing at the surface were chunks of what Luna recognized to be flesh, along with clumps of hair and even an eyeball. She thumped her leg against the tub as she crawled away and caused the mixture to rattle, the crimson surface licking at itself like a satisfied cat.

When she reached the table she flipped over and leaned against it, catching her breath and holding back the urge to vomit. Her head rested back against the table edge before she peered up to the ceiling, it wasn't as she expected it to be.

She sat up and then got to her feet, running along the wall and ripping away the rest of the cloths blocking the windows she recognized to be shirts, tattered and dirty.

With the sunlight exposing everything in the room Luna saw the boxes lined against the opposite walls strained through with dark marks. She guessed it to be blood as well.

Luna tilted her head back again, peering at the ceiling that didn't seem natural, it looked unstable and shifting. Hopping onto the table she recalled her rapier and jabbed upwards, her weapon tip disappearing at it passed through a barrier of sorts.

"Dispel." She whispered and watched ripples form around her blade and spread out until the entire ceiling was like the surface of the ocean. She waited as the ripples intensified before bursting and showering her with dark blue sparks of light.

Luna shielded her eyes from it and waited until the room was clear of them before she turned her attention back to the ceiling and gasped at what hung above her.

Black chains ran from one wall to the other and held up various items and pieces of equipment, far different from the kinds she saw on her way to the room. There were bloodied hooks, clamps, a corset that was made to be placed around the body with hooks that dug in to tear it the body open. She also spotted what looked like a stool, but instead of a flat seat it was shaped like a pyramid, above it were four ropes and a buckle.

Her gaze shifted across the ceiling until she reached the far wall where the tub sat, above that were the butchered bodies of human children, dangling by their feet. Their bodies drained of blood and most of their flesh torn away, exposing pale white bones.

She grimaced and looked down to the table under her feet, seeing deep indentations on it as well as slice marks and dried blood in the holes. She dropped down onto the table, her uniform's skirt billowing out around around as she ran her hand over the table. She pursed her lips and glanced around her. It was a torture room.

* * *

Warrior Moon had climbed onto one of the shelves fixed into the wall and was pelting Megumi with chunks of cement. The Youma threw out several obscenities at the girl as a chunk beamed her right above the eye, cutting some of the skin.

"You'll pay for that!" Megumi leapt up and slammed a hand down on the the shelf, the impact caused the shelf to crack, the wood to splinter, and break off from the wall. Moon screamed as she collapsed into a pile of cement bags and wood on her back.

As Moon groaned and shoved a beam of wood off her she saw Megumi fly up and over her. She squealed and reached out for her lance, but in the fall she'd lost it. As Megumi came down on her she tucked her feet in, slamming against the woman's chest as she landed on her.

"Gah!" Moon huffed and tried to shove the woman away as she opened her mouth wide, the smell of gore emitting from within.

"C'mon!" Megumi hissed, her mouth coming closer to Moon. "It'll only hurt a little bit!" Her jaw unhinged more and opened wider, wide enough to swallow Moon's upper body.

Moon whimpered before she felt burning tears in her eyes, through her mask all she could see was the darkness inside the monster's mouth as she began to plant herself over the girl. "Somebody help..." she cried and struggled to push her away, her strength not comparing with the woman's as she felt her arms get forced back.

Warrior Moon dropped her head, realizing how much space she put between her head and Megumi's mouth when she did. She strained to pull as far back as she could before throwing her head forward, her mask bashing into Megumi's nose, she felt the woman's weight leave her and sat up to see her stumbling back.

Megumi rubbed her nose before she narrowed her eyes at Moon. Once she dropped her hand her tongue came lashing out from her mouth and towards Moon.

"AHH!" Moon screeched as the tongue wrapped itself around her throat before she could summon her lance. "No!" She screamed as the extended tongue fastened itself around her throat and once it had a hold on her, she was lifted up and brought in close to Megumi.

Moon kicked her legs frantically, trying to jerk around enough to break free.

She watched Megumi's face turn eerie, she guessed she was smiling, but the woman had lost all form of beauty now and she merely looked insane.

Moon reached for the tongue and tried to pry it free before she saw Megumi's body jerk forward five times. From her mouth came blood that splattered across her face, some of it coming through the slash and hitting her lip.

She didn't have time to respond before the tongue went loose and she dropped to the floor, her knees hitting hard. "Ow!" she whined and rolled over, rubbing the sore caps.

Across from her she saw a pair of feet, black shoes in fact. From there black slacks, the red inside of a cape and as she rolled over onto her stomach she caught full sight of the hero that had saved her life four times now.

"Tuxedo Mask!" she said happily, scrambling to her feet.

"Are you alright, Warrior Moon?" He asked and held a hand out to her as she hobbled to him.

"Better now." she gushed and looked back to Megumi, the woman was squirming on the ground with five red darts sticking out of her back. Moon glanced down between them to see Mask's cane, the end of it had five open compartments on it and she smiled up to him weakly.

"Get behind me, I'll finish this." Moon felt heat rush to her face as the man maneuvered to protect her. A comforting smell coming off his cape as it flapped around him that made Moon feel safe, and warm.

"Heh." Megumi said and staggered to her feet. "Diarmuid should have finished you when he had the chance!" She hunched over, her hands touching the ground and the darts seemed to be forced out of her skin, clattering to the ground before she lunged at them.

Between the two came a burst of red haze that grew until it was the size of a human, it caused Megumi to halt her attack and for Mask grab Moon and leap back.

From the haze came Artemis, stumbling forward before realizing he was coming face to face with Megumi. He doubled back to avoided a swipe of her claws before stopping in front of Mask.

"Oh hi Moon." he said happily.

"Hi?" she asked incredulously. "Hi?"

He smiled to her before looking back to Megumi who was still hunched over, but now swaying from side to side like a fighter.

"The more the merrier!" She hissed and charged them all, in the distance the sound of glass shattering alerted them all to the windows where a woman burst through. She hit the ground rolling and in her hand formed an oversized cleaver.

She continued to slide against the ground as Megumi lunged for Artemis, the woman slid under her body and dragged her blade across her chest.

Artemis smiled before he spun around, his foot slamming into Megumi's oversized jaw and sending the monster flying into a wall. He quickly gripped his side in pain and he was joined by the woman. She had long flowing violet coloured hair and she placed a hand on Artemis's back and whispered something to him.

"What?!" Megumi howled, patting her chest, there was a large gash that went from one side to the other just under her breasts. She rubbed her torso, as if she didn't understand the feeling of pain or what had happened.

"Nice to have you here Desi..." Artemis said as he straightened himself up. "Like always your timing is impeccable." The woman flashed a wide smile before looking to Megumi who was staggering on her feet.

"Oh look! The Silver Guard has come to play!" Megumi teetered around and threw her arms out.

"Watch your step." The woman, Desi, held up her oversized cleaver of a weapon and moved in closer to the progressing Youma.

"Or what? You'll attack me?" Megumi cackled. She took careful steps towards Desi, elegantly placing one foot directly in front of the other.

Moon watched Megumi intently behind Mask who was slowly backing them both up out of range.

"I know what you can do, and the Guard isn't equipped to take care of us!" Megumi barked.

"You're wrong."

"Luna!" Artemis exclaimed. Moon heard Artemis over the woman's voice and looked to the white haired man to see him exhale heavily, like he'd been holding his breath the whole time before she looked up to the ceiling. In the space where a window would be Luna was standing, leaning against the wall.

"Luna!" Moon cheered, happy to see the woman and anyone that would be able to take down Megumi. The raven-haired woman jumped from the sill and landed on the ground flawlessly, her skirt flying up and giving Moon and Mask a glance at her underwear. The Warrior watched Mask turn away from Luna as she stood up.

"Oooohh it's a party!" Megumi continued to cackle.

"I'm surprised you managed to stay under our radars for so long." Artemis sneered at her.

"Heh, after my run-in with you I fled and managed to take refuge in the woods." Megumi hissed at him, showing all of her fangs.

"Luna, I thought you said she needed blood to survive?" Moon asked meekly, trying to keep her arms from shaking. For some reason the woman was more terrifying than ever. Even as she was about to be swallowed, she wasn't this scared.

"Very good,___Luna_." She demeaned, turning to face the woman, running her tongue over her splintered lips. "Lucky for me I found a small little camp out there, in the woods." She sneered directly to Moon who shuttered, knowing where she was going before she even said it. "I had a wonderful week of snacking of teenage boys… It's amazing what their blood does to a girl's skin." Megumi let out a harsh cackle and brought a hand up to her face to pat her pale cheeks. "Of course I wouldn't mind trying someone a little older…" Megumi extended a hand in Artemis' direction.

Luna huffed before she rushed at her, a blade appearing in her hands. Once she was in range she swung up with her rapier, the swing lopped off Megumi's arm and sent it flying into the air.

Megumi bellowed out a painful cry while she watched the severed limb hit the ground a yard away.

"You should be thankful you're even still alive!" Luna leaned over and slammed a foot into her back, forcing Megumi over onto the ground.

"Luna." Artemis spoke quietly and watched the fuming woman with a blood-lust in her eyes.

"She's disgusting!" she spat. "In the building I was searching, I found her torture room! It's full of the bodies of children!"

Moon shuttered and felt Mask tense up in front of her, Desi and Artemis shook their heads in response before Luna continued her revelation.

"Little boys and girls, hanging dead by their feet..." Luna dropped her voice and charged her, sword outstretched but Megumi easily avoided the lunge. Instinctively she slammed her remaining hand down onto the blade and as the force sent Luna staggering forward her jaw unhinged to open wide, wide enough to swallow Luna down.

As she came in closer to her Artemis appeared beside her with a rapier of his own in hand and jabbed at her. The blade passed through her jaw before she lurched back to avoid another attack.

"Just so you know, I don't kill little girls. Just the boys." She licked her lips with her dangerously long tongue and winked to Mask.

"Moon Blade Slash!" From the behind him came Moon's cry and a blinding stream of light as she slammed her lance onto the ground.

Upon making contact, the blade emitted a large wave of energy that raced across the floor and past Mask, Luna and Artemis, but Megumi leapt to the side to avoid it as well. The wave sliced through the back of the building, chunks of the wall and ceiling crashed to the ground.

With wide eyes Luna turned to the warrior who was panting so hard it was visible across the room. "Warrior Moon…" Luna said gently as Moon lifted her blade in front of her again.

"I've got a little brother... And I may not like him, but I really do love him." She choked on her words as the blade reverted to its original size.

She could feel inevitable tears forming on her lids again, the idea of Shingo falling prey to a monster like this angered her like nothing else ever had. "And I'll do whatever it takes to keep him and all of the other boys in the world safe, especially from monsters like you!" Moon raised her lance above her head again, the muscles in her arms burning as she struggled to keep it aloft. "Moon Blade Slash!"

Megumi's eyes opened wide and she lunged to the side again, but stood in horror as she watched the Warrior remained still. With the lance still held high above her head Warrior Moon let out a soft chuckle before dropping it down.

"I can't use that attack again so soon yet, but it works as a distraction." She pressed the blade down into the ground and leaned on it for a moment before falling forward into Mask's waiting arms.

"What?!" Megumi choked looking around her, the only ones in sight were Mask and the Warrior.

From the left came Luna with her sword held close to her side, ready for a powerful thrust into Megumi's side. The Youma cried out in pain as Luna punctured her and the blade jutted out of her torso. Before she had a chance to react Artemis came from above, lodging his blade down through her spine and pinned her to the floor.

"Bastards!" She coughed, blood splattering around her lips as a pool of it began to spread around her.

Stepping up to the other side was Desi with her cleaver held over Megumi's neck. "One wrong move and it's over."

Artemis wiped his brow and sighed looking for the mess Megumi was becoming as she struggled to pull the swords free.

Moon was breathing heavily still. Because of the mask concealing her identity, her hot breath slapped against the inside of her mask, hitting her face in response. She briefly glanced at Tuxedo Mask before she turned to look at Megumi's body. Her once-beautiful raven hair was matted with blood and sweat and her pouty lips were dull and cracked. Her cheeks had been ripped apart so many times it exposed her jagged rows of teeth.

"She used to be so pretty…" Moon whined and struggled to stand on her own.

"Warrior Moon." Mask cautioned, but Moon held up a hand to him. She smiled behind the mask and stood on her own, walking slowly to the fallen Youma.

Megumi scoffed and rolled her head from side to side on the ground. "Save me the pity speeches!"

Warrior Moon raised the lance above her head and Desi backed up to give her room. She took in a deep breath of air before she brought the lance down onto her body. Once the blade made contact, the room erupted with a pillar of light that shot up from the corpse.

Through the rustling of wind and the blinding light, Moon could see Megumi's face. A face distorted in what she imagined to be pain, and heard her cries as her physical form vanished.

As the light dimmed Desi and Artemis high-fived each other as their weapons vanished and Moon let out a heavy breath of air.

"This doesn't seem to be getting any easier…" she sighed.

"What? Killing?" Desi asked bluntly.

"Wielding this thing, thought you said it would be easier to do as I used it more, Luna." Moon waved the lance around weakly before thinking about it. "Fighting those creatures too I guess."

"You haven't really done too much work with it yet, you need training." Luna commented.

"Why don't you and Venus get together tomorrow for some practice?" Artemis suggested.

"Ahem." From behind them came the voice of Desi, the trio turned to her. "It looks like our masked hero doesn't like sticking around."

Moon turned and quickly frowned noticing Tuxedo Mask was gone. She rushed to the exit and looked around but there was no sign of him, only Minako's scooter. "Gone again..."

"I imagine you want to go home and get cleaned up, huh Moon?" Luna offered, sliding past her and heading outside. She turned to get another look at her. Her mask had a diagonal line of splattered blood on it and the suit had dirt and spots of grey on it from the cement.

"I want to meet the Guard." Moon stated immediately, sliding the mask from her face and wiping her lip were a spot of blood was.

"What?" Luna asked harshly, Artemis and Desi followed her outside and watched Usagi warily.

"The Guard, I want to meet them. Apparently she's one of them." Usagi gestured to Desi who swung her cleaver over her shoulder.

"I'm a Protector, like these two numb-skulls." She glanced to Luna and Artemis whose expressions turned from shocked to pained as their secret was revealed.

Usagi mouthed the word "what" and looked side to side at the two of them. "When were you going to tell me?! You told me you two were advisors!"

"We are, but-"

"Usagi listen-"

"No! Luna we've been through all this and I just found out you can be a human if you want. And you told me you couldn't have helped me fight, but you could have! And you have a weapon of your own!" Usagi stared at her in disbelief. "I bet _Minako_ knows about you guys, huh?" she glared at Artemis.

"How many secrets are you guys going to keep from her?" Desi asked, looking to the other Protectors.

"They weren't secrets," Luna defended. "we just didn't tell her the whole truth..." she knew how bad even that seemed.

"What's a Protector exactly?!" Usagi shouted.

"The Protectors are a Division in the Silver Guard, we work almost as a standalone force, but still follow the Guard's orders to a T." Desi stated. "And even within the Protectors we have different ranks, there's a lot to explain..."

Desi was cut off by the sound of fast approaching sirens. Luna cursed their timing and looked to Moon with some urgency

"Desi, can you take me to the Guard?" Usagi shouted over the sirens and marched past them all to Minako's scooter, starting the engine.

"Usagi, I know you're upset but this is..." Luna progressed towards her, shaking her head and moving her hands horizontally like she was trying to cut her off. "This isn't a good time."

"I don't care! I want to meet them, everyone!" She demanded, revving the engine. "Either we go meet them, or we stay here and we can talk to the cops!"

"You can't just order a meeting with _everyone_." Artemis added.

"I don't care!"

"If she wants to meet them, then let's go." Desi said coolly. "Sure beats talking to the feds."

* * *

End of Chapter Eight

* * *

Next, after hearing a bit of the history surrounding the world she's been thrown into, Usagi is desperate for more information and there's only one group of people she can turn to. The Silver Guard, the Protectors, what are they exactly and what information will they share? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Nine - Silver Guard 1**


	9. Silver Guard 1

**Cosmic Warriors  
**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, or their original owners, respectively.

**Note: **Thanks always for the feedback and to SadieSwirl for being my beta reader for this chapter. I hope you enjoy this week's chapter about the regularly mentioned SIlver Guard, also the university that became the Guard's HQ you'll read about is actually a real place in Tokyo.

**Review Note - DonovanX: **Glad you're enjoying some of the underlying plots/themes in the story. The gem will make another appearance sooner than you think lol.

* * *

**CHAPTER NINE - Silver Guard 1****  
**

* * *

Rather than take Minako's scooter to the Silver Guard's headquarters, Desi had a more stylish ride in mind. While Usagi shot Luna and Artemis dirty looks, the cleaver-wielding woman called several numbers on her phone and within ten minutes a black car with tinted windows had arrived. After Desi hauled Minako's scooter into the trunk the three of them hopped into the car, and Desi onto a motorcycle she had showed up on.

The ride was mostly silent, Luna made small talk about the weather and Artemis complained about his wound. They figured Usagi was too upset to talk to them, but what was running through her mind wasn't the reason in which she should be mad at the Protectors. Instead it was filled with all the questions she wanted to ask.

"How long are you going to stay mad?" Luna asked from beside her in the backseat. "Usagi, will you at least talk to us?

Usagi furrowed her brow when she look at the raven-haired woman. "I'm not mad. Secrets are just something you all seem to love keeping." She shrugged haplessly and looked out towards a group of kids that were playing on the sidewalk. "Guess I'll have to get used to it."

"It's not like that." Artemis said, turning in his seat. "We keep things from people for their own good. But as far as the Protectors," he looked to Luna. "it just never came up."

"What he's trying to say is that there's a lot to learn now Usagi, now that you're Warrior Moon and we didn't want to throw it all at you at once." Luna added and placed a hand on her knee, but it quickly dropped to the seat as Usagi scooted away.

For the rest of the ride Usagi drowned out anything else Luna or Artemis said, only the faint humming of Desi's motorcycle reached her in her distant state.

The group traveled far from Usagi's neighborhood, further than she'd ever been on her own. She would have thought she was lost if she hadn't been able to recognize one landmark from the car, the Tokyo Tower.

"Is that where we're headed?" Usagi asked impatiently, not taking her eyes off the tower.

Luna scooted forward and looked through the windshield. With a soft chuckle she returned to her seat. "Tokyo Tower? What kind of headquarters is that?"

Artemis and the driver both laughed along with her and Usagi felt her face get warm.

They continued down the same road for a while before Desi lead them down several narrow streets. The bike ahead of them then pulled to a stop in front of a tall building made of bricks with white stone fixed around doors and window sills.

While Usagi stared at the building, in awe of its size, the others all exited the car and were making their way to the entrance. With a huff she threw open her door and trampled out. "You could have waited!"

"We don't have time." Luna shot her down and kept walking with the others until she reached the door.

Nestled within the stone frame, that started at a series of steps in the shape of an arch, were double wooden doors with small glass squares embed into them. Usagi rushed up the steps and looked up at the building; it loomed over her and seemed bigger up close than it did from the car.

It seemed new to her, but as she passed the arch her eyes caught a stone that had the year 1858 carved into it. Luna grabbed hold of the door handles and pulled them both open wide, a wave of stale air hit Usagi as she stared inside. She wondered if the Guard really would be staying in such a place.

"Come along." Luna demanded and led the group through the halls at a brisk pace, fast enough that Usagi had to jog to catch up when she paused to observe the interior. The walls were made of the same brick she saw outside, there were some wooden panels near the ceiling that pictures hung on, but Usagi could never make out any faces in them.

Occasionally she spotted a few colours many times, blue, red, and yellow. Sometimes on fliers, and sometimes on a flag that stretched over an entire wall. Questions about the building ran through her mind before she was shoved into an elevator by Luna.

If she had to compare the elevator to the building itself, she'd say the metal box was the odd man out. It was sleek inside, chrome, completely silver and futuristic. Artemis placed a hand against the sliding doors once they closed and the surface slid down revealing a black control box underneath with a small screen beside it.

He mumbled to himself before dashing his fingers across the screen, clicking away lights and bringing up new ones.

"What is that?" Usagi asked, looking to Luna who was straining to follow the lights herself.

"Nothing." Artemis answered and tapped several buttons before numbers began to appear and change with each tap. He paused at the number ten and pressed a small green light near the right wall.

Before she could focus on the number that was now flashing the elevator shot up in the shaft. Usagi threw her arms out and braced herself. She felt like she was going to fall to the floor, or the metal box would fly through the roof of the building. Standing around her Luna, Artemis, and Desi stood stoically until the elevator came to a soft stop, the controls were then covered over as the doors opened for them.

"C'mon." Luna huffed, dragging Usagi along. "Don't embarrass us please." She pleaded as she lead the squirming blonde into the hall.

Back to normal, Usagi thought. The hall looked just like the previous one, stone, wood, and picture frames, things she could understand and identify. At the end of the hall was a pair of double doors that Desi and Artemis had already reached when she and Luna approached.

Desi yanked on the door and one side flew open, she immediately headed in, followed by Artemis and Luna shoved Usagi in after. With Luna guiding her, Usagi walked behind Artemis who followed Desi around on a platform that was fixed onto the wall inside an expansive room that looked like an auditorium.

Usagi wasn't paying attention to where she was heading, she was far too busy taking notice of what was on the ground floor.

From wall to wall were clumps of black, she couldn't tell what they were exactly, but there was a lot of them all standing in uniform lines all facing the same direction, facing a stage. Standing on it was someone wearing a dark uniform with a streak of red on it, they were speaking to the room, but Usagi couldn't make that out either.

"What is all that?" She asked, more to herself than anyone else as they continued around the platform. Now she was looking down at the room from the side, still unable to make out what was below exactly. Occasionally she glanced ahead to see where they were heading and stopped at another pair of doors that was at the end of the half-circle platform.

Usagi's ears perked up as the soft murmur of the person below that was speaking stopped, she glanced down below and saw the figure moving around the stage before stopping at the edge. With a stomp of their foot the room exploded with noise, the black of the group came to life, shifting and moving and yelling. Usagi pushed past Artemis and Desi and raced to the door, pressing her hands against the railing across from it and leaned over to get a good look at what lay down below.

Standing in straight lines, from the stage to the back of the room were people, humans, dressed down in black armor and gear. "Wow…" she mouthed before she was yanked away and thrown through the door.

"Stay with us Usagi, don't start acting like a child now." Luna hissed.

"Calm down!" She retorted, rubbing her arm where Luna grabbed her. "Geez! You were so worried about me being mad in the car, now you're being bossy..."

She glanced around her as they moved down yet another hallway, along the walls were sunken-in portions of the wall where statues of men and women clutching weapons stood. Usagi tried to get better looks at them but Luna kept forcing her onwards until they reached another door.

Desi pulled the door open and entered a dim room; Usagi squinted as to get a better look at what was inside. She was forced into the room and into a seat in front of the door. While Desi, Luna, and Artemis walked away from her she glanced around at the other faces sitting at the table.

"Err, hey." She waved slowly at everyone sitting around her.

There were thirteen other people sitting at the table with her, six on each of the long sides of the table and one sitting at the opposite end from Usagi. Above the table hung the only light in the room that was made up of several smaller lights that cast bright circles on the long table.

Towards the end of the table she spotted Luna and Artemis, sitting across from each other. Other than them, the rest were all dressed similarly to Desi, dark grey double-breasted uniform jacket with sections of purple on it.

"Welcome, Usagi." Across from her at the table stood a man that looked to be in his mid-twenties with pale skin.

His thick blonde hair was short on all sides, save for his bangs that were slicked back, lying on top of his head. He was taller than average, around Makoto's height, and had a thin build. But from the way his uniform jacket fit over his arms she guessed he was rather muscular. His uniform jacket was fastened to the very top like Desi's, he placed his arms behind his back and smiled to Usagi.

"I am Mani of the Silver Guard, the Head of this Division, the Protector of Protection, if you will." He brought his hands together in front of him before spreading his arms slowly in a grandiose way. Usagi took the opportunity to study the faces around her.

"You already know our Global Protectors; Luna and Artemis. Both of them a Protector of Warriors." Mani gave a nod towards each of the two who were sitting on different sides of the tables, in the chairs closest to him. "And now you've met Desi." Mani gestured to the woman sitting two seats away from Usagi on her left. Desi smiled to her and once she turned her attention back to Mani, Usagi kept her eyes on the woman.

She had very androgynous features, a round face with small pursed lips, and almond shaped eyes that looked like secrets was hiding right behind those dark brown orbs. Her flowing violet coloured hair seemed to reflect the lights of the room as it fell over her body in waves. She looked a bit older than Mani, maybe middle-aged, but she seemed as fit as ever.

"This one." Desi announced, pointing back to Usagi with her thumb "She's got some guts, taking on that Youma by herself." The blonde blushed as all eyes in the room turned to her before looking back to Mani.

"Yes; however, we're not here to discuss that at the moment." he reminded.

"Then why are we here?" A man beside Luna blurted out, he leaned forward in his seat and glared at Usagi.

Even from a distance there was no mistaking his face once she heard that voice again.

"YOU!" Usagi shot out of her seat and leaned on the table, pointing an accusing finger at the man.

He wore the same uniform as the others, but the buttons at the top of his jacket were undone, exposing a bit of his toned chest. He had a strong jawline, much like Mani, his hair was short and brown coming down across his forehead in curled pieces. Even from a distance she could make out the red rimmed rectangular glasses that sat in front of green eyes. "Detective Kalla!" she screeched.

The man snickered before easing down into his seat. "Nice to see you again, but you can drop the detective part."

"He's just Kalla here." The woman beside him said, patting his shoulder. She had unnaturally vibrant red hair that was parted on the right side and covered the left side of her face with the scarlet waves. From what Usagi could see her skin was like the colour of a peach crayon, it looked flawless and smooth. Her face was very angular with high cheek bones, pouty lips and a soft chin. Her uniform was unbuttoned as well, exposing a fair amount of cleavage.

The woman turned in her seat fully to look down to the blonde. "I'm Ilargi." Usagi deemed this woman as beautiful and stunning, she flashed Usagi a brilliant white smile to which the girl gave back a nervous chuckle.

"I-I'm Losna." From across the table, opposite Ilargi came a young girl's voice, so timid Usagi strained to hear her. She looked scared to be at the table with the rest of them, like she didn't belong there. She had a small face, with large features, round sunken in dark eyes, a wide mouth that gave off a crooked smile, and a round nose. Her skin was what many would call olive-coloured. Usagi's mind was racing as she looked over the girl, she couldn't be any older than herself, probably younger in fact.

"How old are you?" Usagi blurted out, unable to wrap her mind around it.

The table erupted with laughter, save for Mani and Luna, though the former was still unable to hold back any form of chuckle.

"We do not count the years." A man beside Ilargi said, he had a tender and soothing voice. He looked to be in his twenties, but now Usagi wasn't sure if that mattered any longer. He had wavy blonde hair that reached past his shoulders and stopped somewhere under the table. He had a long face, dark skin, with a strong chin, his eyes were hooded. He was lean and his uniform jacket seemed too big for him, he wore it unbuttoned, exposing the black shirt underneath.

"And you are?" She asked slowly, settling back into her seat.

"Excuse my manners, I am Iah." He nodded to her, placing a hand on his chest.

"So how come you don't count the years? Doesn't it matter how old you are?" She asked to no one in particular.

"We don't count, 'cause we don't age!" An angry and powerful voice came from across Iah, from a large and brawny man who was banging his fist on the table.

He had short reddish-brown hair with carmel coloured skin and perpetual frown lines and wrinkles covering his mug. He had small beady eyes and a displeased frown on his face but the most striking feature was the scar going across his face, reaching from his right ear to just above his left eye. "Now I'm Dewi and-"

Dewi stopped as Usagi snorted at the sound of his name, causing the rest of the Protectors to glare at her before she calmed herself. "Sorry..."

"AND we don't count years is 'cause we don't age like you _humans. _Queen Serenity gave us the gift of immortality while we lived on the Moon and it's something that's stayed with us thankfully!" He continued to bang his fist on the wooden table, like he was pleading a case to Usagi.

"Forgive him." Mani spoke up. "Well, in the interest of time I'll let you get to know everyone better another time, for now this is Soma, Jarilo, Gesi, and Nikkal."

Mani gestured quickly to the rest of the group that were sitting close to Usagi. First was Soma, a tall man with a long face. He had slicked back brown hair and black glasses that covered his eyes, he gave Usagi a wide smile which she returned.

Jarilo was short, around Usagi's height with spiked red hair and a many dimples and freckles on his face. He reminded her of a child somewhat, with his toothy grin and boyish features.

"Guess who in here is my sibling." Desi spoke up, looking to Usagi before glancing to Gesi. The man smiled at Usagi whose jaw dropped noticing the resemblance, the two were twins. Gesi had the same androgynous features, and the same hair colour, although his was cut short and neat. He looked strong, muscles were showing through his uniform jacket that looked snug on him.

Lastly, Nikkal sat to Usagi's left, she had long black hair with bangs pinned somewhere on the back of her head, her skin was dark and she had bright blue eyes that Usagi felt like she could drown in. She gave a weak smile before looking towards Mani.

"Now that we all know each other, let's get down to business." Mani said before taking his seat, crossing his legs and folding his hands on his knee cap. "What can we do for you, Usagi?"

"Well..." Usagi mumbled, she had all of her questions lined up on the way here, but after meeting them they broke all the expectations she had and made her forget everything.

She expected cloaked and hooded men who would yell at her for speaking out of turn, not normal looking people who weren't all bad. She glanced to Dewi and Kalla as the thought crossed her mind.

"Out with it girl." Dewi growled and Usagi narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't give me that tone, scar face!" Usagi spat out and stood from her seat again. Several in the room gasped at her brashness and gave each other questioning looks.

"Now now, no need for name calling." Mani stated.

Kalla was tapping his fingers on the table with his other arm resting against the back of his chair before he spoke up. "It's because of her we were all called back here on such urgent notice, so start talking girl. Dewi and I were pulled away from the mess she left at Stack Attack because of her! She's been Warrior Moon for a couple of days and she thinks she can just order us around anytime she wants..."

"A couple of days?!" Usagi shouted, walking away from the table and staring down Kalla. "It's going on three weeks for your information! So rude!"

"Well you certainly haven't done three weeks of worth." he snarled. "I've seen you in action! Crying, whining, and flailing that bloody lance of yours all over the place! You're going to get yourself killed. Not to mention the wonderful messes you tend to leave behind. Do you think you can just call the Guard to clean up the bodies you leave behind?" Usagi's jaw dropped as she scoffed at the man."I protected the Moon Kingdom, and now Earth, since before you could wipe the drool off your chin!"

Usagi opened her eyes wide as his words hit her, she felt the familiar sting of tears coming and turned away from him. "Well you did a poor job..." she muttered before heading back to her seat.

Kalla stiffened in seat before Luna placed a hand on his shoulder. "That's enough Kalla, from you too, Usagi." Luna said before either could utter another word.

"Usagi, why are you so angry?" Mani asked calmly, so calm it irked Usagi.

"I feel – left out!" she blurted. "I mean, I go to school and then Luna wants me running all over the place fighting monsters I don't know much about. People are dead, and no one seems to think it's a big deal." With a heavy sigh she finished and dropped back into her seat.

"I see." Mani nodded before standing and walking around the table. "Well Usagi, although Luna was not in contact with us after she awakened you, I'm sure she told you what she felt you ought to know." He gestured to the woman in question who nodded slowly. "Also, much of what the Dark Kingdom does is still a mystery to even us, we have our own rules and codes to follow and cannot always act as we please."

"But you're the leader." Usagi reminded. "Why not?"

"Leader of the Protectors, a Division within the Silver Guard." he reminded back. "This is but a wheel on a vehicle that has existed for over a millennium." As Mani came closer to her, Usagi made out more of his features. He had a round face with a strong jaw and piercing blue eyes; his skin was smooth and devoid of any hair.

"Then can I talk to the head of the Guard or something?" She squinted her eyes and furrowed her brow, knowing it was probably a stupid thing to ask. "I just want to know what's going on exactly, why is all of this happening here and now. Why me? Why are my friends in danger all the time? Who is behind all this? You guys throw out that name, Dark Kingdom, and expect me to know what it means exactly."

"I see." Mani nodded.

"I come to meet you guys and I still have questions that aren't answered yet, I mean all those people I saw in that room back there." she pointed back to the doors with her thumb. "Are they a part of the Guard too?"

"Indeed. The Silver Guard has gone through many forms since its creation. Sometimes it was an organization designed to protect humankind, as well as our own people. What exactly it were protecting them from varied. Other times it was made to simply keep alive the story of our people. But here and now we are protecting Earth from the Dark Kingdom. From the monsters they've dragged from the darkest crevasses in the universe and made to work for them. From the Experiments they coerce scientists into creating, reanimating fallen heroes to do their bidding." Mani stepped up beside Usagi, placing soft hands onto her shoulders. "The Protectors are a small fraction of that group, formed to do what you can call the heavy lifting. We possess strengths humans do not, we fight battles humans have no part in, we risk our lives for the humans we protect."

"But you have humans working for you right?" Usagi asked, sounding like a child after Mani's expressive and emotional dialogue.

"There are many brave humans who still believe in the Moon Kingdom and choose to lay their lives on the line for us. We would not be as strong if it were not for them. We have scientists and doctors working for us, as well as military men and women to help maintain order. We have others who work to keep the public unaware of what is happening under their noses, and other specialists who assist the Protectors with their duties. Given the time, you will meet all of them Usagi, although we Protectors do most of the fighting, we are not as strong as the Cosmic Warriors." He moved out from behind her and back across the room, heading towards his chair. "It wasn't until recently, thanks to Artemis's efforts, we were even able to slay Youma."

"How come?" The blonde asked.

"Silver _Guard_, the _Protectors_." Mani mused. "Do you not see? We are not warriors like you. Our goal is to protect, to guard, to keep peace and balance. Of course with the absence of the Cosmic Warriors, we had to reconsider our duties, and had to take on a more aggressive approach." The other Protectors chuckled at this.

"So you all were the Protectors on the moon too... And how did the Queen make you guys immortal?"

"Queen Serenity gave everyone in the Moon Kingdom the gift of immortality, with the Silver Crystal." Mani said and looked to Artemis who gave a weak smile.

"What's that?" Usagi asked, genuinely intrigued.

"A gem of magnificent power." Ilargi answered.

"It's the reason the Moon Kingdom was such a powerful entity. Not because we were a violent kingdom. But because of our Queen, and the Crystal." Artemis added in. "It was a gem that many would have loved to have, and that many died trying to attain."

"The Dark Kingdom was one of them," Kalla said cooly. "they formed their group by corrupting the minds of humans and monsters, forcing them to work under one being. Beryl." He spat out the name and Usagi could feel the air in the room change.

"She commanded her army to attack the Moon Kingdom." Losna said, looking around the table. "It was terrible, just awful. They were like wild dogs, hunting for the Silver Crystal."

"They killed many in their onslaught, but our great Queen was able to overcome them and banish them from her Kingdom." Mani explained.

"And she paid the price with her life." Usagi finished, and the Protectors all looked to her. "Luna told me this part before."

"Yes, with the last of her strength she sent a small number of us to Earth to be reborn in hopes to live a peaceful life here." Mani continued before taking his seat. "I don't believe she imagined us living again as fighters and protectors."

"It hurts to know her sacrifice meant nothing now that the Dark Kingdom is trampling over Earth." Iah commented softly, Usagi felt a pang in her chest. Those were the same words Luna had thrown at her.

"The Moon Princess." Usagi stated ardently. "Luna said we had to find her right? Who is she?"

"Daughter of our late Queen, the only one strong enough to banish the dark forces once and for all." Ilargi answered woefully.

"Don't sound so sad! I mean how hard can it be?" Usagi breathed nervously, she knew it certainly wasn't an easy task or they would found her already. "Maybe I'm stupid for thinking like this, but I mean we're _all _here in Tokyo, Japan. It's possible the Princess is here too right?"

"You're not stupid for having that impression," Mani covered his mouth while he gave a soft laugh. "but it didn't all just happen so simply Usagi. We didn't all wake up together in this city and start anew."

"I was the first to awaken." Ilargi raised her hand. "And the Dark Kingdom was already at large, mass kidnappings of scientists, doctors, engineers, some of the world's greatest minds were being taken from us and no one could stop it. Political officials were forced to resign and were replaced by monsters pretending to be humans, those that refused were assassinated and replaced anyway. The world was a dark place."

"Still is." Dewi grumbled.

"I woke up in Argentina. I don't mean physically woke up, but that is where I regained my memories of my past life." Ilargi continued and looked to the table and let out a short chuckle. "I had no clue what to do with myself. I had made a nice life there working for a small up and coming telecommunications company, but once I realized who I truly was again, I was frantic. I had no way to get in touch with anyone I knew, no way to stop the murders or kidnappings I heard about. I felt so powerless." Ilargi held her hands out in front of her like she was clutching something.

"Then I found her." Mani smiled to her and she batted her eye at him. "We worked together to regain our strength and we worked with some ex-military men and women to help stop some of the small crime. As bad as she makes it sound, it isn't anything compared to today."

Usagi raised her eyebrows at that and snorted, finding it hard to believe anything could be worse than man-eating monsters killing children.

"It's true, although things were terrible back then, at least everything was out in the open." Kalla barked at the girl. "Now, you could be sitting next to a blood sucking Youma in your classroom and never know."

Usagi's mind flashed to Ami, and then to seeing Diarmuid in her school.

"A candidate running for president in America could be an Youma from the 1500's. Your neighbor could be baking you cookies by day and killing your loved ones by night. The world is nothing like it used to be!" Kalla slammed a fist onto the table and shouted at Usagi who jumped in her seat. "The Dark Kingdom already has control of his world, they're rubbing it in our faces by acting like they're disappeared, it's pathetic." He scoffed and shook his head before resting his chin in his hand.

"I may not have been doing this as long as you guys." She rolled her eyes at Kalla, thankful he wasn't paying attention to her for fear of what he might say if he saw. "But I've seen what the Dark Kingdom can do, up close and personal. So I think I can understand how serious this all is, please don't treat me like a child, Kalla." She saw the man sit up in his seat and cast his gaze to her, but she kept her focus on Mani, his smile comforting her. "So the Moon Princess." She pressed on, still feeling Kalla's eyes on her. "When we find her, then what?"

Luna watched Usagi, stunned by the girl's confidence to speak so boldly in front of her colleagues. She had expected the girl to keep quiet and, at some point during the meeting, cry. She was impressed thus far.

"She'll lead us to the Crystal." Mani gave Artemis a glance, picking his words carefully as he responded to the girl.

"Okay." Usagi bobbed her head in understanding and sat back in her chair.

"Is that all of your questions?" Luna asked.

"For now." Usagi sighed with relief.

"Excellent, then since we're all gathered here, does anyone else have anything they'd like to share?" Mani asked, sitting up and spreading his arms, signaling the floor was open for anyone.

"I'd like to discuss the forest Warriors Venus and Moon seemed to disappear into earlier this week." announced Luna.

"Ah yes." Mani nodded. "Moon, care to explain?"

"Well you see... Uh I don't really know what happened. I remember riding with Minako and then we passed this opening in a bunch of trees and kept riding. It wasn't until later I even realized we hadn't been in the park anymore."

"Haruka said the girls were far outside the park's boundaries. And with the help of Tuxedo Mask, was able to confirm the forest the girl's vanished into was somehow synced up with the real world. Those trees they passed acted as some kind of portal, teleporting them to them to the forest." Ilargi said. "Obviously it was a trap to get them alone."

"Does magic like that really exist?" Usagi asked cluelessly.

"After all that you've been through, you don't think it's real?" Kalla questioned.

"It could be real!" Usagi shouted back to the man. "But I've just never experienced something like that before! I mean, do other – magical – worlds exist, out there somewhere?"

"They do." answered Mani. "It's no simple task to sync them to our world, but not impossible either. And if the Dark Kingdom is able to do something like that then there's no telling what kind of creatures they can send at us."

"I'll be sure to keep an eye out for any abnormalities when it comes to this dimension, it shouldn't be too hard to find out the next time they try something like that." Ilargi said and Mani nodded in approval.

"Well, is there anything else before we call this meeting to a close?"

Artemis ran his tongue over his teeth while he dug in his pocket and slapped a red gem onto the table.

"The Silver Crystal!" Desi screamed, pointing to the gem.

"WHERE?!" Usagi hollered, jumping from her seat.

The twins burst into laughter and the rest of the room couldn't help but to let loose a few snickers as Usagi eased back into her seat, flushed and embarrassed.

Artemis snorted and shook his head. "I found this in a building where a Youma was living, or working. It teleported me to some hideout I'm guessing."

"Do you know the location?" Mani asked, taking the gem into his hand.

Artemis pursed his lips and shook his head. "No, I didn't stay long enough to find out. But please be careful with it sir. I wasn't sure how it activated, it teleported me there and back without my knowledge really."

"I see. Losna, take it to your lab will you?" Mani deposited the gem into the gloved hand of the Protector and he nodded before rising to his feet and leaving the room.

"If she's dismissed then I'll be taking my leave as well." Gesi said. "I'll be patrolling the coast if you need me." The man said his good-byes before departing, followed by Kalla, Ilargi, Iah, Jarilo, Nikkal, and Soma.

"I need to check in with Mina." Artemis said rising from the table and pulling a phone from his pocket.

"Sir." Luna addressed. "Do you think Usagi could get some training in? She took the day off from school, seems a shame to waste the opportunity."

"Sounds like a wonderful idea." He tapped the table as he stood. "Desi would you take our Warrior and Luna to the dojo, I'll be at the office if you need me." Mani departed from the room after that, leaving the girls to themselves.

"You ready to go Usagi?" Desi asked and sauntered to Usagi. The blonde nodded as Luna approached from behind the trio set off back through the building.

As they walked, Luna and Desi filled Usagi in on some of things she hadn't had time to notice the first time. Including the elevator, the mass of armed humans and the building they were stationed in. It was a university that was closed recently and as the Guard expanded they moved in and made it their personal headquarters.

After leading Usagi back through the building the girls headed into the basement that was split into sub-levels, the first being a basic training area. It was a wide open room filled with wooden and plastic dummies in the shape of limbless humans. The floors and walls were covered with red mats for protection. Along the matted walls were racks with weapons, some wooden, some made of metal.

"Agent Tenoh." Desi said and instantly got the attention of someone who was throwing jabs at a dummy. They turned and smiled at her before heading over. "This is Usagi, our first Cosmic Warrior, of the Moon. Think you could train her a bit?"

"Can't right now," Agent Tenoh responded in a husky voice. "I have a meeting soon, but Rei is here she can work with her, or she can try her hand with the captives." Tenoh chuckled and held a hand out to Usagi, which the blonde took nervously. Agent Tenoh was stunning, short blonde hair that framed a golden heart-shaped face, with dark green eyes.

"Alright Haruka, break it up." Luna intervened and shoved the agent away.

"Haruka?" Usagi snorted. "That's such a girl's name."

"Then I guess it fits huh?" Haruka poked her cheek before heading off, leaving behind a puzzled and flustered Usagi.

"Rei!" Luna called out and from across the room turned a raven-haired girl who was wielding a bow and arrow.

"WHAT?!" She shouted back, louder than needed.

"Sheesh!" Usagi groaned, rubbing her ear and Luna waved the girl over. "Is she gonna slap me with another tag?"

"I heard that, and no." Rei retorted as she jogged up. "But I might use your buns for target practice." She waved around an arrow in Usagi's face and the blonde grabbed her double buns defensively.

"Rei, take Usagi and get some training in, particularly strength." Luna jabbed Usagi's flabby arm before turning away from the duo with Desi.

"We've got _a lot_ of work to do." Rei chirped.

"Oh shut up." Usagi rolled her eyes and followed Rei as she started to walk off. "What are we doing first?"

"Best way to build your strength, physically and emotionally is to put you in real battle situations." Rei answered, heading to a spot on the wall that wasn't covered with mat, she gripped a knob and pushed through a door.

"What? Are you gonna shoot arrows at me?" She droned on.

"That'd be too easy."

"Flaming arrows?"

Rei paused and furrowed her brow. "No, but that was a good suggestion. I'll remember that next time you come around."

Usagi whimpered as Rei pushed through another door and led them into an empty grey stone room. There several chunks of the walls missing, and instead of stone steel bars were placed over the holes that went too far back to see into. Rei hit the wall beside them a couple of times and a loud buzz resonated through the room.

"Prepare yourself." She offered.

"For what?" Usagi scoffed and threw her hands on her hips as one set of steel bars lifted out of the ground, from the darkness in the hole came a deep growling. Before she could see it coming the beast from within was already out in the middle of the room.

Hunched over on all fours, with the body of a human, was some form of beast. It had mangy orange hair that was long enough to drag on the ground, dark skin that looked like it was made of wood. On its back were four thick protrusions that looked like seeds ready to bloom. On its hands were the same kind of material that made up its skin but looked like dark cylinders that covered its hand and went past its elbow. On its body it wore a deep purple cloth that hung off loosely, as the beast moved around the space Usagi caught glimpses of its body, most alarmingly its ribcage.

"What is that?" Usagi screeched as she pushed herself against another set of steel bars, only to jump and cling to Rei as another creature tried to grab her through the bars. From within Usagi could see another beast like the one circling, its hand was made of the same wood looking material but its fingers were long like claws.

"They're Youma, we captured them and were using them for experimentation, after their trials are over we use them for training purposes." Rei shrugged the blonde off and readied an arrow in her bow in case the Youma in the room tried something.

"Um, Rei? How long have you been working with the Guard?"

"Only a year, grandpa stressed how important it was for me to join."

Usagi turned to face the shrine maiden. "So, you know who I am?"

"Warrior Moon."

"And you still attacked me at the shrine?!"

"In my defense, I just learned today when they said you were coming in." Rei shrugged and pulled back on an arrow as she watched the Youma get into a pouncing position. "I was forced to read a dossier on you."

"You won't tell anyone will you?" Usagi asked, keeping an eye on the beast.

"Not unless you piss me off." Rei grunted and fired an arrow at the Youma as it leapt at the girls, hitting it square in the chest. "Now transform, you won't learn anything if I do all the work!"

Usagi snorted and nodded her head before clutching her moon charm.

* * *

The following morning Usagi was late, much to her teacher's chagrin, and was forced into the hall. She leaned against the wall, wearing her signature tag, brandishing her as the girl that liked to interrupt class late.

"Ugh." She groaned, and listened to a soft clicking coming from her right.

Down the hall she saw someone dressed in all white making their way down towards her. She straightened up on the wall as they came in closer and she could see it was a boy. When he passed her he lifted his head to catch her gaze, giving Usagi a glimpse of his blue eyes, pale skin and sunken in cheeks. "Oh Artemis, it's just you…" She went back to slouching and rolled her eyes as he stopped and let out a playful laugh.

"Artemis, you're late."

From down the hall to her left Usagi hear a girl's voice, Usagi raised her head to see a girl with long dark hair standing at the corner of the hall watching the white haired boy come closer.

"Calm down Luna." Artemis's responded and his walk turned into a playful one as he swaggered closer to the girl pushing his body against hers. She responded with what seemed like a nervous chortle and placed her hands on his chest before catching Usagi's eyes.

"Wait a minute." Usagi said as she turned to the couple, watching Artemis seemingly whisper something to her. "Are you two pretending to be students now?" Usagi inquired as she moved down the hall towards them, her eyes darting to the side into her classroom to see if anyone was watching the door.

"Does that bother you?" Luna asked, placing a hand on Artemis' shoulder, a sign for him to cut the cuddly act.

"Little bit, I don't like lying to people." Usagi whined.

Artemis raised an eyebrow at that. "What have you been lying about?" he asked.

"Well, I mean like the chanela attack, people still don't know the truth and even this morning I heard people talking about some murderer at Stack Attack. Another story is about how they were putting some drug in their food that caused hallucinations." She gave the two of them looks that showed she wasn't pleased with how the Guard handled these things.

"You know the truth is worse than a lie in these conditions Usagi." Luna reminded, "well we should get going." Luna glanced to the clock on the wall and waved to Usagi as she backed up around the corner.

"Don't forget you've got training with Mina tonight!" Artemis called as he disappeared as well.

"Right…" Usagi mumbled before she turned on her heels to head back to her usual spot beside her classroom door. She dropped back against the and waited for the bell to resonate throughout the school.

It only took a second for the doors to burst open and students to flood from their classrooms. Usagi struggled to walk against the crowd to find Naru in the mass of students.

On the first floor, Luna rushed through groups of students while Artemis trailed after her as they made their way to the school's gym.

"What're you thinking?" Artemis asked her as they pushed through the gym doors. Luna headed for the folded up bleachers instantly and began to climb them.

"Nothing in particular. But after a morning of talking to students and exploring the grounds I've come up with no leads." Luna answered, reaching the top and flipping over onto a seat. Down below Artemis walked in a circle that was painted on the floor as part of the basketball court.

"Leads about what? The next Warrior, or the Dark Kingdom?"

"Both I suppose. Why, have you come up with anything?" Luna questioned as she leaned forward to look down to him.

"Nope, but I have a theory." He offered.

"Listening."

"If that Mizuno girl was working with the Dark Kingdom why didn't she reveal herself when Megumi was exposed?" He paused for a second and started again before Luna could get a word in. "You said it yourself, she was just as scared as Usagi or Naru was, and didn't fuss about being forced outside. Even Minako said she was worried when she met up with them out front. I know you think it was all a trap because apparently it was her idea to go there, but still."

"Maybe they needed confirmation on Warrior Moon's identity." Luna suggested, kicking her legs against the bleachers.

"Or maybe she's not who you think she is." He said.

"But I feel a weird force around her, if she's not against us…" Luna furrowed her brow, not ready to deny Ami as a possible enemy.

"Maybe she's on our side?" Artemis offered with a brilliant smile.

* * *

End of Chapter Nine

* * *

Next, Naru is lead into danger once more, how will she handle seeing her rapist? And with the latest attack, will her friendship with Usagi crumble? Is Makoto what Luna's been looking for? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Ten - The Warrior of Storms**


	10. The Warrior of Storms

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about.

**Note: **I haven't posted a ton of lengthy things yet, but I just realized CW has become my longest story by over 50k words. Big thanks to everyone who has reviewed, or given feedback in other ways and for supporting the story, it really does mean a lot. Additional thanks to SadieSwirl for beta'ing this chapter. Hope you enjoy.

**Review Notes - DonovanX: **Thanks, that chapter was sort of like a necessary evil for CW. There's a lot of history to be told with this anime, and adding a new batch of characters who need their own history adds more to be explained. I felt like the description of the school was getting tedious in places, but in the end I'm pleased with it. Thanks always for updating the tropes page.

**- Lunary: **I can't imagine how long or confusing it could have been if I included the rest of the Guard. Yeah, there will be more chapters about the Silver Guard, but they shouldn't be filled with just information like 9. The idea of the Guard and Protectors came from an anime called Blood+, their groups called the Red Shield and The Schiff were like building blocks for me. But originally the Silver Guard was only going to be made up of 12 people. I decided to add one more person and make those 13 a separate group called Protectors, and make the Guard more of an institution with lots of Divisions.

**- avesiji: **Thanks for reviewing, I'm glad you enjoy the story so far and how I have worked with the episode plots and the character introductions. :)

* * *

**CHAPTER TEN - The Warrior of Storms**

* * *

**Saturday, September 26th**

"And so it is with absolute certainty I can say the serial killer, known by the public as Hannibal, has been eliminated and is no longer a threat to anyone." The moment Superintendent Sakurada stopped the clamor of reporters started up again.

This impromptu conference needed to be done, but she was still uneasily having microphones shoved in her face, and a million flashing bulbs directed at her.

"Is it true no body was recovered from the scene?"

"Is it true Hannibal was actually a woman?"

"What about the bodies of the children from the spring of 1990?"

"Superintendent, Superintendent!"

"That is all I have to say for now, thank you." Sakurada bowed her head to the crowd of reporters before heading back up the steps into the Metropolitan's office building.

Waiting at the door, Kalla stood poised with a pleasant smile on his face. Sakurada's pleased expression shifted to discomfort as she passed the man. "You better be right about this."

* * *

"Three, two, one, begin!"

Warrior Moon felt herself tense up hearing Luna shout again. It had been like that for several hours now throughout this training session with Venus. They started with physical combat this morning at eight in the matted room, after that was evasion training with Rei who fired arrows at the girls. After a while she started lighting the arrows on fire. After that it was strength training followed by live battle experience. The Guard had supplied Luna with creatures called Spores, which were used by the Protectors for combat training.

"You sure they're harmless?" Moon whimpered and looked over the room they were in. It was a wide open space with white square tiles covering the entire floor, walls, and even the ceiling. Fixed into the tiles above were circular lights.

"Harmless enough." Luna shrugged off her question and tapped away at the controls in front of her. Behind the two girls in a sub-room outside the training room Luna was selecting the type of Spores she wanted while Losna and Jarilo watched.

Spores had been a personal creation of Losna's, and the girl was eager to see how they worked in live combat.

"Remember; put what you learned in training this morning into use here." Luna said, speaking into a small microphone that made her voice echo through the tiled room from an unseen speaker.

Venus took in a deep breath as six spaces in the floor ahead of them opened up, revealing dark holes underneath the tiles. From the holes emerged wide grey tanks with glass walls; inside each were what Moon figured to be the Spores.

"Remember what we practiced Moon?" Warrior Venus reminded. Moon nodded and watched as Venus opened her heart disc and then fastened the halves onto her wrists. The chain connecting them dangled between.

The girls were fortunate enough to have weapons that allowed them to attack both from long and close range. Luna suggested they work on their timing to allow one to do strictly melee moves, while the other prepared a finishing blow from a distance.

While Luna typed on the control panel ahead of her, the tanks in the room activated, each one unlocked and the glass walls rolled open.

Out stumbled the Spores, creatures of the male gender with skin white like the tiles in the room. They all wore brown cloaks with the front open, exposing deep groves and scars on their chests. Their faces were completely black, with wide yellow eyes and a dangerous smile. Whatever they were, Spores weren't pretty to look at.

Warrior Venus took off first, sprinting in front of Moon as she headed for the Spore that was stepping ahead of the group. To Moon she looked like a blur of orange zipping from left to right as she came within striking zone. Before the Spore had a chance to react, Venus made a large slice down its torso. The creature instantly burst into a thick collection of green particles.

"Ah! What is that?" Moon called out and looked back to Luna as she tried to fan away the particles.

"This is the form they take after they've taken a certain amount of damage. Nice work Warrior Venus."

Venus grinned behind her mask before she huffed air onto her nails and rubbed them on her suit.

"On your left!" Moon called out, clutching her lance tightly as a Spore was charging for Venus. As it came in close the Spore swung one of its arms at her, at the end of which she could see long claws.

Effortlessly, Venus cartwheeled to the side, smashing another Spore in the face. With her feet back on the ground she held out her arms before knocking her knuckles up against the discs. On the top of each disc a small section opened and from them flew silver chains with sharp metallic cylinders at the end.

Moon gripped her lance tight as she watched Venus rise to her feet and yank on the chains that were now embedded into the body of her Spore victim.

"Too easy..." Venus said and started walking back, tugging on the chains and forcing the groaning Spore to walk with her. "Ready Mooooo-"

Before she knew it. Venus was yanked forward by her chains and was forced against the body of the Spore. In his hands were the chains and Venus stared up at him with wide eyes as he grinned.

"Shit..." Luna said, her voice coming through the intercom as a grainy hiss.

"What?" Moon asked back to Luna again, that wasn't something she wanted to hear. "They're harmless right?"

"Sort of, they're not real monsters, but they were born to fight and will do damage if given the chance." Ilagri answered.

When Moon looked back to the Spore it had its arms wrapped around Venus, too tight for comfort and the remaining four were swarming in on her. Meanwhile the collection of green particles were floating around above them all, slowly heading back into the tank the Spore had come from.

"Uhhh!" Moon hopped from foot to foot, unsure of what to do when she heard Venus cough hard.

"You're running out of time." Losna said coyly.

Moon whined and whipped her lance up in front of her, forcing her energy into the weapon she watched as the tip began to glow. She thought back to the pet shop when the same thing had happened and Iguara's head was lopped off.

"Hoping for a miracle here!" Moon thrust herself forward and felt something shoot from the blade, looking up she saw a pointed ray of light firing from the tip and pierce through each of the incoming Spores. Slowly they stopped moving and began to twitch before their bodies exploded into masses of the same green specs.

Through the haze Moon saw the Spore attached to Venus twitching as her beam had sliced through part of its back. Slipping her arms around the creature's back Venus sliced through its neck and leapt away as it burst apart.

"Nice thinking Warrior Moon." Luna complimented before tapping on the control panel.

"We did it!" Moon cheered, running to Venus.

"Don't celebrate yet!" Jarilo stepped up to the panel and leaned close to the microphone. "Spores are _very _persistent." Stretching out his hands he went to work, tapping and clicking away on the panel. The tanks opened and began to suck up the rest of the green dust before they closed and inside the mixture began to swirl around. "Hehe, hope you can handle it girls!"

Behind the girls more tiles began to move and from the holes emerged more tanks, this time ten and in the tanks ahead of them the dust took the shape of Spores, this time two had formed in each tank.

Moon spun around and held her lance up as the Spores began to exit their tanks and Venus readied herself for the next wave as well.

"They can multiply?" Moon asked shocked, striking down one as it lunged at her. Moon changed her hand positions, holding the lance upside down and swung it upwards as she danced between two Spores, like she would between hanging laundry, and made long slashes along their chests.

Standing at the ready Moon counted the remaining ones as they began to surround her before the rustling of fabric filled her ears and a thick arm was brought across her throat. The force of impact sent her flying across the room before her body slammed against the wall.

Coughing hard Moon slumped to the floor and rubbed her throat. "No fair!" she rasped. Looking ahead she saw three of the Spores were coming for her, but after a flash of silver the leader was yanked out of line. Glancing to the right she saw Venus surrounded by a large collection of the green haze and was pulling back on the Spore she'd stuck with her chains.

Scrambling to her feet Moon swung her lance wildly, slicing into the two progressing Spores and flew through their green aftermath to stab into another. Moon rashly tugged on her lance to free it as three other Spores were rushing in towards her. Quickly she hit the ground and tossed her lance out ahead of her but before she could crawl away a thick hand wrapped around her handle and began to drag her back into the crowd.

"No no no no no!" She screamed, clawing at the floor and managing to get hold of the lance grip before she was out of reach. Before she could follow what was happening she was held upside down by one of the Spores. "Put me down!" she fidgeted before waving the lance at it, managing with some luck to strike through his thighs. Moon then fell to the ground in a heap of green dust before another Spore hovered over her.

"Moon Blade-" She held the lance above her, charging energy inside the blade before a chain wrapped around the neck of the Spore. The Spore began to hiss and struggle to free itself before half of Venus's heart disc embedded itself into the crown of its head.

"Stay on your guard okay?" Venus reminded as the Spore vanished.

"No problem..." Moon muttered getting to her feet and backing out of the crowd that didn't seem to be getting any smaller. Between two of them Moon could see the orange of Venus's suit charging in and before she knew it the other blonde had landed on the shoulders of a Spore. With ease Venus ran her disc edge along its neck, causing the creature to vanish before she took down two more just as easily.

"She's amazing." Moon muttered before taking down one of her own with a deep stab to the chest.

"Four left, keep going girls." Luna said through the speakers and Moon swung her blade wildly, dispelling two more.

"Venus Heart Attack!" Venus smashed her wrists together, her heart disc reforming into one piece before she hurled it out at the last two targets. The disc broke apart as it flew in close, revealing the razor chain inside. Upon reaching the Spores the chain began to wrap around them. Before her disc tops could connect Venus crouched down and extended her hand, the chain and disc glowing bright orange before disappearing and reforming in her hands.

From behind the staggering Spores Moon spun around with her lance extended, lopping their heads off easily and causing the room to fill with even more green dust.

"We did it!" Moon cheered, looking through the window at Luna for approval. The raven-haired woman only smiled before Jarilo nudged her out of the way.

From the few days Moon had spent with the Protectors, Jarilo was easily among her favorites. After a day of training on Friday the two of them managed to sneak away from HQ and make it to the arcade. Jarilo had brought enough money for them each to play about a hundred games if they wanted to. He even treated her to ice cream sundaes this morning before they got to work. However, if the Protector continued to send more Spores at her it was going to put a damper on their friendship.

As Jarilo finished typing in on the panel the tanks came alive soon after. Each of them drew in the green dust that then reformed into more Spores. Now three were struggling to fit into each tank.

"You're kidding me right?" Venus deadpanned, fastening the disc halves to her wrists again.

"Have fun ladies." Jarilo said.

"They just keep multiplying, how are we supposed to beat them?" Venus asked back to the window only to have the three Protectors shrug at her.

"The tanks." Moon muttered and Venus looked over to her.

"The what? Tanks?"

"That's how those uglies are coming back, if we get rid of them then they can't make any more!" Moon stepped away from Venus and held her lance to the side, charging her energy inside the blade.

"Moon Blade Slash!" With a large swing Moon went spinning around and a white disc of light flew from her blade at the end of its arc and sliced through the tanks. The metallic tops of the tanks hit the ground clattering and the glass shattered, freeing the rest of the Spores.

Venus nodded at Moon's example before turning to the rest of the tanks behind them, watching some Spores struggle to free themselves she hit her wrists together before grabbing the disc as a whole.

"Venus Love Shot." She said sweetly, before hurling the disc out sideways like a Frisbee and as it flew the disc turned into a bright white with an orange outer glow that sliced through the tanks and Spores at a diagonal.

"Excellent job ladies, very quick thinking on your part Miss Moon." Jarilo complimented and the door of room opened, the three Protectors filing in as the holes in the floor opened and the remains of the Spores and tanks fell into them.

"I was getting worried there for a second." Venus admitted as she exited the room with Losna, and Jarilo on her heels. "We would have suffocated in there if they kept multiplying."

"You okay Moon?" Luna asked as she watched the girl seemingly drag herself to the door.

The blonde lifted her mask from her face, exposing a frown and a long face. "She's stronger than me and she's quicker." she grumbled.

"Venus? Well she's been doing this a lot longer than you," Luna assured. "and as far as speed I'm sure you'll catch up."

"No, I mean she's faster at attacking! She had no problem taking off that thing's head." Usagi ran her thumb against her neck and gave a cutting noise her best try.

"Like I said, she's been at this a lot longer, you'll get used to it..."

The girls headed out through the sub-room and into a dim hallway. Minako had reverted back into her civilian clothes, and was trying to hip Losna to some new kind of eye shadow.

"How'd you like training with us, Usagi?" Jarilo asked.

"It's been fun, for the most part." she rubbed her throat where she'd been clothes-lined. "But I have a question, how come Minako can do all kinds of stuff with her weapons. I mean the whip, the disc, the chains, razors. She's got everything in there but the kitchen sink!"

"As you get stronger you'll unlock more abilities and your weapon will change too." Luna answered with a smile. "I told you this already."

Usagi pouted and dropped back against a wall and Minako came over beside her, resting her head on her shoulders. "Don't sweat the small stuff Usagi, your slash attack is really cool and you took down like three of them all at once with that beam." The girls laced their fingers and Usagi smiled before a ringing in her pocket interrupted the moment.

"Oh, whoops." Using her free hand she dug out a small black phone Mani had given her and checked the screen. Makoto's blocky name was flashing across it along with the tiny icon of a phone. "Hey Mako!" She chirped into the device.

"Usagi! I told you the phone is for emergencies!" Luna barked, jaw agape.

Usagi pursed her lips, rolled her eyes, and waved a hand at Luna before heading off down the hall. "No I'm not busy, so what's up?"

"You know how Naru and I went to breakfast this morning?" Her brawny friend said.

"WHAT? Why didn't you invite me?!" The blonde whined.

"Well... I did, but you told me you had other plans."

"Oh yeah." Usagi said absently looking back to the Protectors behind her. "So what about breakfast?"

"She was acting weird. Every guy that came by us she was scared of, even the waiter gave her the creeps." Makoto continued.

"Oh... I guess she's still, you know weirded out by everything." Never before did she think she'd be dealing with something like this, she had no clue how long it would take before Naru was _okay_, if she would ever be.

"I came up with an idea to help her. I think she needs to learn how to protect herself, plus I know working out and being at the dojo always makes me feel better!"

"The dojo eh? That's the place where people... sweat and stuff?" Usagi said while she nibbled at a hangnail.

"Yeah, but that might be a bit too much. I saw an ad about a new gym called Shapely, thought maybe we could all head over later if you're done with your other thing."

"A gym?" Usagi groaned. The last thing she wanted after spending hours doing Warrior training was to go and workout again.

"C'mon Usagi, do it for Naru."

Usagi's jaw fell open and her head dropped back before she regained composer and sighed into the phone.

"Fine, Shapely it is..." Usagi slid the phone back into her pocket and with heavy shoulders stomped back towards the group. "I need a ride into town."

"I'll take you; I'm meeting Artemis soon anyway." Luna offered and checked her watch. Minako raised her eyebrows in a crazy way with a smile on her face. The two girls had numerous theories on why she and Artemis were so close. "Oh be quiet before I send the Spores after you." Luna grabbed Usagi's wrist and pulled her away and as the blondes passed each other they shared a cunning smile.

After a short trip back through the city Usagi was dropped off at her house where she proceeded to freshen up and change out the clothes she had donned for training.

In a hurry she down a few bowls of a cereal, said her good-byes to her family and set off through the streets towards Shapely, a new gym she hadn't known existed until today.

After wandering around aimlessly and making several calls to Makoto she finally managed to locate the gym, a large four story building near the edge of town. Upon arriving she spotted the faces of her friends through the windows and rushed inside.

"Mako! Naru!" She called out, waving to them as she ran through the sliding doors and stopping at a registration counter.

"You made it!" Makoto said with a smile as they approached her.

"Yeah but... Are you sure we should be here? This gym looks really fancy and expensive." Usagi groaned and looked around, ahead of her was a long counter behind which several employees were working on something. Beyond them was a wall of glass windows through which Usagi could see a private room where a man was doing jumping jacks with a woman. Off to the right monochrome exercise machines were set up in lines that extended to the far wall. Out of line of sight was another part of the room filled with more machines and the elevator and stairs that would lead to the upper floors.

"That's the best part, it's free!" Naru beamed. Usagi raised her eyebrows at her cautiously; Naru didn't seem troubled like Makoto claimed she was.

"I guess you can't beat free." Usagi mumbled to herself as she looked around at the others in the gym, they all looked perfectly in shape to her, not like the people she thought needed to be working out.

"Let's go get changed and then hit the machines!" Makoto said before she led Usagi and Naru across the room and through the collection of machines. On the far wall there were several doors beside each other; above one was the label for the woman's restroom.

While the girls left the room they passed a man on a bench press, dabbing his forehead with a rag. He was dressed in a purple and green track suit as the girls filed out of the room a grin crossed his face. Cupping his face with his hand he tried hard to suppress his laughter. "More prey... Stupid humans, when will they learn nothing costs more than something that's free."

Once the girls had changed into workout clothes, light grey tank tops and blue shorts, they headed out into the main area where they were greeted by the same man in purple.

"Who's he?" Naru asked, cowering behind Makoto who was googly-eyed over the man.

"I'm Jed, nice to meet you. Welcome to Shapely."

"He's gorgeous..." Makoto cooed.

"Come with me ladies, and I'll show you where our beginners can work out." Jed waved a hand at them for them to follow as he headed back across the room and towards an elevator.

Usagi jabbed the elevator up button and waited patiently until the doors slid open for them before filing in.

"You'll be on the second floor, and it's the first room you'll see when the doors open." Jed reached a hand inside and tapped the corresponding button. "Enjoy."

Once Jed was out of sight Makoto fell back against the elevator and caused Usagi and Naru to jump in surprise.

"You okay Mako?"

"He was so dreamy!" The brunette placed her hands on her cheeks and stared off into space.

"Oh please Mako, you think everyone is good looking." Usagi waved her off and waited for the metal box to stop moving before the doors parted. Ahead of them was an empty hallway and directly across was the room Jed spoke of. Each of the girls filed out of the elevator and into the room, noticing the size of it.

"It's huge in here..." Naru whispered, taking in everything.

The room indeed was large; all of the equipment like chin-up bars, bicycles, sets of weights, and other machines were all pushed against the wall. The rest of the room was filled with other people working out. Many were stationed in front of mirrors to watch themselves as they pumped iron, some had taken jump ropes and were in a corner by themselves while others did stretches on the ground.

"Looks legit." Makoto nodded in approval before heading off towards the opposite wall where a punching bag was hanging from the ceiling. "This is my kinda place!"

"What do you want to do first Usagi?" Naru asked hopefully.

Usagi took in a deep breath before dropping her shoulders. "Something easy, I'm pooped."

"I think I'll do... The chin-up bars!" Naru snapped her fingers before she walked off to the equipment, stepping onto a stool before hanging from the bar.

Usagi looked around the room before she dragged herself towards the bikes and hopped onto one. She began peddling slowly as she watched Naru struggle to pull herself up and Makoto give the bag hell.

After spending twenty minutes of fake peddling Usagi gave up the bike for the treadmill, thinking walking would require less work and be less painful on her bottom.

Meanwhile Naru was still working the bar and Makoto was onto sparring with someone. Usagi was busy adjusting her speed when in stormed three large men who looked to be in their thirties. They broke the steady hum in the room with booming claps and shouts.

"Alright! Alright! Alright! Time to kick it up a notch!" The first man shouted, he had dark skin and wore a black and orange one piece like a wrestler would. On his head was a thick golden circlet with a gem placed in the center.

Usagi raised her eyebrows skeptically at him as he headed over to Makoto. "Geez, could he be more obnoxious?

"C'mon spar with me!" The man boomed at Makoto.

"Fine, put on some gloves dude." Makoto said stretching her arms as her previous partner was forced away by the larger man.

"Not gonna need 'em!"

"Oh brother..." Usagi said with a huff as the two began to throw punches at each other, over the sound of her machine and the others in the room occasionally she heard the man yelling for Makoto to punch harder.

"You on the bar!" Usagi turned her attention to Naru and the man that was now yelling at her, he had olive coloured skin and wore a green muscle shirt with red bottoms. Usagi could also see a gold band fastened around his head. "Faster! Go faster! You call that a pull-up?" He continued to bark orders at Naru who was trembling not only from the exhaustion, but from having a man like that in her face.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Usagi screamed, ready to hop off the treadmill before a man stepped into her path. He wore a blue one piece and red compression pants, Usagi stared up at the gold band circling his head as well. "What is with guys and their fashion choices now-a-days?"

"No one said you could stop! Get back on that 'mill and sweat!" He leaned over and barked into her face.

"Who do you think you are?" Usagi demanded, slapping her hands onto her hips.

"I think I'm someone telling you get back on the treadmill!"

Usagi furrowed her brow before glancing around the room. "H-Hey look that guy is doing girl push-ups!" She pointed quickly out to another corner of the room and the man whipped around to find the culprit.

"We DO NOT allow girly push-ups in this gym!" He hollered, gaining the attention of the rest of the room. In the middle of his tirade Usagi managed to slip out of the room.

"That was close..." Usagi pressed herself against the wall outside the room and wiped her brow for sweat. "What a tool, yelling at Naru and me like that!" From the bend in the hallway to her left Usagi heard slow approaching footsteps and quickly ran off in the opposite direction, turning down another hall out of sight.

"Usagi!" Behind the girl came a harsh whisper that made the girl jump and scream. Before she knew it a hand was clamped over her mouth and she was being dragged backwards.

"Stop screaming, it's me." The hand over her mouth fell away and Usagi looked back, Luna was holding a finger over her own lips signaling for her to keep quiet.

"Why are you here?" Usagi asked. "Don't tell me you want to work out." Luna had spent the last few nights at her house and she'd been unlucky enough to walk in on the woman changing in the bathroom. With a toned stomach that would make Makoto jealous, Usagi saw no reason for Luna to ever step foot into a gym again.

"No, I did some looking into the gym. Taking you back home you said you'd never heard of it before and after what happened with the House of Fortune and Stack Attack I'm skeptical of any new buildings in the area."

"And?"

"There's definitely dark energy surrounding this place..." Luna said coldly, looking around them.

Usagi scrunched up her face is disgust; even on her day off she was going to be working.

"Where are your friends?"

"Still in the workout room." Usagi pointed to the wall beside them.

"Get them out now!" Luna rasped.

"Why what's wrong?"

"That room is a room within a room." Luna placed a hand on the wall and began to tap around on it. "I was looking through the ceiling tiles and found strange tubes leading from that area to the basement." She continued tapping before she seemed to find what she was looking for; with a swift punch she threw her arm through the wall.

"Luna! Are you nuts?" Usagi tried to pull her arm out while she looked around. "Someone is gonna hear you!"

"Take a look Usagi." Luna pulled her arm out and began to tear away the pieces of wall around the hole; Usagi glanced inside and gasped at was there. It was a small dark space, big enough for only one person to walk through with ease. Across from her was another wall and attached to it were tall blue panels that seemed to pulse with waves of a brighter blue.

"What are they?"

"They look like energy draining panels; they suck the energy out of the people in the other room Usagi." Luna dusted off her arm and looked back inside to the panels. "I'm guessing they're lined around all four walls."

"Very good deduction." From down the hall came Jed's voice, slowly he slid the glasses from his face and began to unzip his jacket, exposing his dark grey uniform underneath.

Luna whipped around behind Usagi and slapped a hand onto the back of the girl's head. "Stay down." she whispered. "Not surprised to see you here Jadeite, is there anything you won't do for energy?"

"No." He retorted coldly before flying forward at her, Luna shoved Usagi off to the side and the girl covered her head as she hit the ground.

Jadeite collided with Luna, but the woman was strong enough not to be thrown back by the impact. Instead the two of the skidded across the floor before she was pinned against the wall.

Jadeite, Usagi thought, the name rang a bell instantly. Back in the Guard HQ after her training with Rei, Usagi had been briefed on the Dark Kingdom and its associates.

* * *

"_Who are all of these people?" Usagi asked as she spun around in a chair inside another meeting room. She sat around a small square table with Luna and Ian while Ian operated an overhead projector; currently it projected a medley of unknown faces on a screen before Usagi._

"_Known associates of the Dark Kingdom, past and present." Ian answered._

"_And apparently future..." Usagi groaned gesturing to a picture in the bottom right, Ami Mizuno's picture._

"_We can't take any chances Usagi; you should know that by now." Luna offered, trying to make it sound bearable. Usagi nodded in understanding as Ian began to categorize them._

"_These people on the left are a part of a sub-section of the Dark Kingdom called the Dark Agency. Sailor V dealt with them for the most part, they weren't a big threat to us, or anyone really."_

"_How come some of them have red and others have green?" Usagi asked pointing to a group of the pictures with red outline borders._

"_Red means they've been terminated, green means they are still active." Ian pulled out a small laser pointer and began to draw a red circle around a group of green people. "As you can see we have some unfinished business with them."_

"_Yikes." Usagi said, biting her lip as she looked into another category that was labeled for the Dark Kingdom, it had a large number of faces, all of which were green._

"_Yes, there's quite a few of them isn't there." Ian responded calmly, smiling at the screen while the light of the overhead reflected in his glasses. _

"_I only want you worrying about one for now though. Minako has already had this briefing; however, her list is a bit longer. Anyway." He nodded to Luna who typed away on a small keyboard and a picture of a young blonde man enlarged. "This is Jadeite; he is stationed here in the far-east and is our only current threat."_

"_He's been surprisingly less aggressive than I imagined." Luna commented. _

"_Hm?" Usagi asked as she sat up in her chair._

"_I vaguely remember fighting him during the Silver Millennium, he was vicious and proud. He refused to believe a woman deserved the right to face him in combat." Luna added with a sigh. "Not that I'm complaining, but all of his attacks seem less severe then back then."_

"_He's wounded." Ian announced with a smile._

"_He seemed fine to me when I met him in the House of Fortune." Usagi said._

"_Luna wasn't the only one to fight him during the attack on the Moon Kingdom." Ian said and Luna glanced to him, unsure where he was going with that. "Do you remember Soma, Usagi?"_

"_Soma..." Usagi tapped her chin and thought back to the introduction she'd received with everyone. "Oh yeah, long face, brown hair and glasses." she snapped her fingers at Ian._

"_Yes, him. Soma is a master of poison and gas. During the attack on our kingdom, he and Jadeite crossed paths. Soma told me he had poisoned Jadeite back then and when we received word that he was still alive, we were shocked."_

"_No one's ever lived after being affected by it." Luna added._

"_I can guess that although the poison hasn't killed him, he is considerably weaker than before. Of course it's not much of a surprise; the Dark Kingdom has ways of healing that probably rival our own."_

_Usagi nodded before Luna began typing again. "Enough about the past." Soon several boxes of text appeared on each side of Jadeite's picture._

_Ian watched Usagi's eyes dart around the screen trying to absorb the text. "Don't worry, we'll print you off his file for your perusal."_

"_Great more homework..._

* * *

Usagi sat up on the ground and clutched her moon charm before glancing back. Luna and Jadeite were gone but she could hear their weapons clashing down the other hall. As she began to focus on her transformation the sound of girls screaming came from the workout room.

"Naru!" Usagi scrambled to her feet and tore off down the hall. "Mako!" Stopping in the doorway she observed the scene inside. The three men who had stormed in earlier and began to bark orders were all surrounding Makoto, who Usagi could see was protecting Naru.

"You're gonna regret not doing as we said!" The dark skin male slapped a hand down onto her shoulder before Makoto stood stoically and simply formed a vice-like grip on his wrist. "Hey wha-"

Usagi couldn't believe it, but Makoto managed to flip the man over her shoulder, slamming him down off to the side. As the second man lunged at her sidestepped before lodging her knee into his abdomen. He fell quickly and the last man cracked his knuckles before attempting to take her down.

Makoto emitted a battle cry before charging to meet him, slamming her hands down onto his arms before they connected and sent the man down to the ground. As he fell she rammed her knee up into his jaw before roundhouse kicking him to the side of the head.

"M-Mako..." Usagi stuttered after watching her friend single-handedly take down three grown men.

Makoto clapped her hands together before looking down at the men with disgust. "Serves them right, putting their hands on me like that."

"Naru, are you okay?" Usagi rushed into the room and to her friend who was shaking. Upon reaching her, Naru jerked away from her grasp.

"Don't touch me!"

Usagi took a step back, shocked and watched her with a blank expression. "Naru...?"

"This is your fault!" Naru screamed at her and Makoto looked back at the girls shocked to hear Naru saying something like that. "It's always your fault Usagi!"

"I don't - I don't understand."

"_You_ gave me that stupid chanela that was making me so weak and crazy! _You_ were the one that suggested Stack Attack the first time! And when I found that monster you totally bailed on us and then showed up with some lame excuse about using the bathroom, and then ignored me all day at school! You've been dodging calls and canceling plans all last week!" Naru's voice grew hoarse and Usagi watched her eyes gloss over. "You weren't there when I needed you!"

Usagi stepped closer, arms spreading for a hug. She knew where it was coming from, her mind flashed back to Diarmuid, she'd arrived too late then. As she tried to wrap her arms around her friend, Naru shoved her away.

"NO! Leave me alone! You're a terrible friend, I hate you!" The words stung Usagi and the pain lasted even after Naru stormed out of the room.

As Naru disappeared from sight Luna came into the doorway, out of breath. "Jadeite escaped with the energy!" Luna quickly opened her eyes wide, realizing what she had just shouted to a room full of civilians.

"I have to go after her." Usagi said ardently, ready to pursue her, but was stopped as Makoto gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Just give her some time, okay?"

"No Mako, I have to go!"

"No, look, she just needs time." Makoto continued to persuade her.

"You don't understand!" Usagi shrugged the girl's hand off and rushed out of the room, and down the hallway she guessed Naru had taken. She followed the hall until she found the stairwell and began to race down it, calling out Naru's name until she reached the bottom.

With no sign of her friend Usagi ran through the room, between the machines and to the exit. Once she was outside she glanced around on the street until she saw Naru disappearing off to the left. "Naru, wait!"

Hurrying after her Usagi ran to the edge of the street and stopped in the entrance to an alleyway and froze at what she saw. Leaning against the wall was Jadeite, clutching the energy ball to his chest and glaring down at Naru as she too froze in her spot. Usagi threw herself out of sight and back up against the wall. "Crap!"

From the alleyway Usagi heard Naru's scream and bit onto her lip, clutching her moon charm tightly. To her left she heard the door to the gym swing open and out came Makoto.

"What's wrong with you Usagi? I know you heard that!" Makoto shouted as she flew past her, not even stopping before she dove into the alleyway.

Usagi gave the alley entrance a fleeting glance before she tore herself away from the wall and rushed back inside the gym, clutching her charm she dropped down on the ground and shut her eyes tight.

In the alley Makoto was trying to keep Naru safe behind her while Jadeite began to float above them, a murky dark aura forming around him.

"What is this...?" Makoto breathed, her strong arms trembling in the presence of the man while Naru whimpered behind her.

"I'll teach you brats to meddle in the business of the Dark Kingdom!" He shouted and held a hand out, forming in his palm was a collection of dark energy that expanded into the shape of a flame blade sword.

"Stay behind me Naru!" Makoto commanded uneasily, while she looked around for any kind of weapon, spotting a pipe leaning against a dumpster to her left. After shifting her attention between it and Jadeite she tried to reach for it. Jadeite jutted his hand out and a wave of dark energy slammed into Makoto, forcing her and Naru back onto the ground.

Before Makoto had a chance to sit up Jadeite had closed the distance between them, prodding at her jugular with his blade tip. "Nice try, wench." Makoto growled and forced her knee upwards, slamming it into his abdomen and forced the man to buckle over.

Staggering back he felt the pain radiate through his body before pointing the sword at Makoto. Dark energy shot from his hand and wrapped around the sword, coating it and changing its shape into that of a claymore.

Suddenly the wall beside him exploded, spraying the alley with brick, soon after a brilliant white slash broke through the rest of the wall and through the space between the two parties in the alley. Jadeite flew back and cursed the intrusion, looking at the ball of energy in his hand before it vanished.

"I'm getting real tired of seeing you, you Dark Kingdom scum!" From the hole in the gym's wall emerged Warrior Moon. She leapt from the pile of bricks into the alleyway and held the lance outstretched to him, as he did the same with his sword.

"Cosmic Warrior..."

"Makoto!" Moon yelled. "Protect that girl with your life!"

"Who are you...?" Makoto asked.

"I am a warrior of Cosmos, Warrior Moon, the guardian of love and justice!" she stated proudly. "And don't you forget it." Moon gripped the lance with both hands and began to charge it with her energy. "It's time for you to face punishment, on behalf of the moon!"

"Cute speeches won't save you!" Jadeite made one mighty swing with his sword and Moon felt harsh winds crash against her, as if a tornado had formed into the alley. While it threatened to knock her over, she stood her ground, charging energy into the blade and with some difficulty managed to aim the tip at the man.

"Ahh!" With a scream Moon felt the energy in her blade get pushed out, firing at Jadeite in the form of a beam that grazed his right shoulder, forcing him to drop the sword and for the wind to die instantly.

"Moon!"

From above Moon heard the voice of Luna and before she had a chance to find where exactly it had come from the woman had dropped down beside her, a sword in her hand.

"Luna." Moon nodded to her as the woman stood tall, keeping an eye on Jadeite before glancing back at the other two. Upon seeing Makoto she did a double take and watched the girl intently.

"Something wrong?" Moon asked, wanting to look at Makoto but afraid of letting Jadeite get away or make a sneak attack.

"She's... Nothing. Moon we have to finish him before he gets away!" Luna snapped at her and charged in first to Jadeite who was clutching his shoulder, swearing at the girls as he stood.

"Who are you yelling at Luna? I already knew that!" Following after Luna, Moon kept her lance at her side, ready to plunge more energy into it as Luna made the initial attack against the man: several long slashes at him that all missed.

Luna dropped back and Moon charged in, stabbing at him repeatedly, each one just barely missing. From along the wall came Luna who slashed down at him, only for the Shitennou to avoid the rapier blade.

"Luna, there's something different about him!" Moon shouted before Luna moved in for another attack. "Whenever he dodges, it's like there's more of him or something..."

"Afterimage." Luna stated.

"After who?"

"He's speeding up his movements and creating false copies of himself to avoid the attacks." Instantly Luna pointed her blade at him. "Spinta!" From the tip erupted a pale blue light and the alley was filled with the sound of a rushing wind that threw Jadeite back several feet. "Now Moon!"

"Right." Moon nodded and charged in, forcing more energy into her blade before slashing at him. As expected he managed to dodge each one.

"Moon Blade Slash!" She felt the lance getting heavier, the blade increasing and its size changing before she made another slash at him. The blade size threw him off and Moon could see the surprise in his eyes as the white blade sliced into him, cutting down his chest.

"Gah!" Jadeite yelped and Moon spun around before swinging the blade down onto the ground. As the blade touched down an explosion echoed out through the alleyway and a flash of white energy collided against Jadeite.

"Yes!" Luna cheered and Moon leapt back from the man after seeing the attack hadn't done the damage she was expecting. Between Jadeite and the disc was his blade, grinding against the attack before he forced the sword up and deflected the disc, sending it flying into the sky.

"No..." Moon whined as her lance shrunk again.

"You'll pay for that!" Jadeite barked, blood leaking from the gash on his torso as he slowly reached into his pocket. Raising an arm above his head he threw it back down a moment later, releasing something that exploded in a puff of purple smoke on the ground.

"He'll escape!" Moon shouted and began to charge forward but Luna gripped her arm tightly.

"No wait! It could be a trap." Luna forced her back into position as the smoke began to clear, two figures standing tall through it.

"It's not a trap." One familiar voice said through the smoke.

"It's called a diversion." The same voice said; however, it didn't come from the part of the smoke the first had.

Through the purple haze emerged two clones of Experiment-D-U-D, golden spears clutched in their hands. Moon's eyes went wide once she saw them, and her hands involuntarily clutched her lance tighter. Behind her the sound of Naru's terrified scream alerted her to her presence again, she glanced back only for a second to see Makoto trying to calm her.

"This is him Luna, the one who did it!"

"I don't understand anything..." Makoto mumbled, but Moon still heard it.

"These _men, _they raped Naru!" Moon screeched, feeling adrenaline rush through her body she felt as if she could tear the men apart with her bare hands.

"What?!" Makoto asked exasperatedly, rubbing Naru's head who was having trouble breathing now. "I don't know who you, are but you better teach these scum a lesson! Or I will!"

"Count on it!" Moon shouted as she lowered herself into a battle position and the clones did the same.

"Makoto was it?" Luna called back to the girl, she looked up to Luna and nodded and the woman rushed to her. Taking hold of her wrists and slapping her hands over them before chanting something quietly.

"What're you doing?!" Makoto tried to break free, but Luna's grasp as far too strong.

"Hush." Luna pulled her hands away and fastened around Makoto's wrists were two silver bands, one on each. "I hope I'm right about you." Luna turned back to Moon who already begun to engage the clones in the battle, but was failing at dueling two on one.

Makoto looked back to Naru in her arms, the girl was shaking and mumbling gibberish. The sight of it made her frustrated and a slew of other emotions she couldn't explain.

Moon yelped at one of the clones slammed her against the brick wall and the other sliced her arm with a small sword from his back. Luna emerged into her view and brought a fist into the jaw of the clone pinning her.

While the Protector began to handle him Moon fell to the ground and cupped her wound and the first clone rose to his feet again. Grabbing her fallen lance she rose to her feet and stood uneasily back to back with Luna.

"Maybe we should call the Guard or something?" Moon offered weakly. "I forgot how strong he was..."

"They won't make it in time, Artemis isn't fit for battle really and Warrior Venus is on a case." Luna parried a blow from one clone and jabbed at him before calling out 'Spinta' which forced him back.

In the skies above the clouds began to darken and the wind started to grow cold. Moon used the thick base of her lance to avoid the spear jabs before slashing out at him, managing to cut one clone on his abdomen.

The females regrouped, standing back to back, parrying blows while dishing out their own. It was their best plan to ensure one wasn't overwhelmed, however it left them with not much room for attacking.

After landing a cut on the clone's leg Luna glanced to the sky as she felt the cold becoming more noticeable. The afternoon sun was completely blocked now by dark clouds and her hair was being blow back by a biting wind. With a smile she parried another blow and thrust the clone back.

"This weather is crazy..." Moon held her lance out straight and charged energy into the tip before releasing it; however, the clone being agile managed to run up the wall and avoid it, much to Moon's chagrin.

"It's not mother nature's fault." Luna said happily as she rushed the clone, slipping past him and slamming a foot into his back.

"Makoto, how are you feeling?" Luna asked sweetly as she crouched down beside the girl, she looked enraged, like a storm was brewing in her chest.

"Alive..." She brunette mumbled, looking towards her new bracelets.

"Do as I say." Luna leaned in close to Makoto and whispered into her ear. The girl looked back at her like she had three noses, but Luna simply nodded before taking hold of the quivering Naru.

Makoto rose to her feet and headed over to Moon who was holding off the clones, who weren't going to risk getting into her swing radius.

"Get out of here it's not safe!" Moon shouted, shooing her friend off.

With a deep breath and a furrowed brow Makoto crossed her arms in front of her chest, tapping the bracelets together. "Cosmic Embodiment: Jupiter!"

"Time to go to sleep for a bit..." Luna said quietly to Naru and placed a hand over her eyes. The girl's pupils dilated rapidly before she went limp in the woman's arms.

Moon knew and looked to Makoto before she turned away and snapped her eyes shut. Instantly the alley exploded with heat and light, an unseen force shoved her over onto the ground. Luna smiled while squinting into the blinding light and the clones swore under their breaths as they switched weapons, each of them pulling out their golden spears again.

Unconsciously she raised her arms above her head and Makoto was struck by a jagged bolt of rouge lightning. The energy from it formed a circuit around her wrists that then covered her hands with light before encasing her entire body.

As the light covered her, electricity began to crack and spark around her before the light broke away, leaving the girl standing in a light green skintight streamline jumpsuit with darker portions on her feet, giving the impression of boots. The same green was found on her forearms, the insides of her thighs and the sides of her torso.

Sparks of electricity raced down the suit, creating dark green lines started at her shoulders and looped under her arms as well as formed a line around her waist. From there they ran down, creating vertical lines down to her shins, and running down her backside and stopping at her calves.

A concentration of light formed on her back before taking the shape of a pink symbol of Jupiter, and on her hands the electricity broke free, revealing metal gauntlets with the symbol of Jupiter formed on the back in green enamel. On her forehead a spark of electricity gathered before she touched it. Light burst from the spot and formed a white lozenge-shaped mask with two slashes on it, one for breathing and the other gave her a line to see through.

"Warrior Jupiter..." Luna muttered.

Jupiter looked at her hands and at the rest of her body with wide questioning eyes. "What is all this?"

Moon slid into view and intercepted the attack by both of the clones. "We can explain it all later, but help me take these creeps down please!" She rasped, forcing them both back.

"Uh how?" Jupiter asked carelessly.

"You control lightning and thunder now Warrior Jupiter, harness that power in your gauntlets and unleash the fury of the heavens with each punch!" Luna shouted.

"Jupiter. Is that me?"

"Moon Blade Slash!" Moon shouted and swung the blade sideways. Both clones leapt into the air to avoid the disc that came their way.

Jupiter stretched her hands several times, watching how the electricity circling her hands seemed to react when she moved certain fingers. She also took note of how much energy she felt in her hands when she clenched her fists. "Well I don't know what's happening, but if I can cobbler these jerks then I'll do whatever I can!" With that Jupiter bumped her fists together and a stream of lightning broke free and struck the building beside her.

"This is bad." One of the clones stated, twirling his golden spear around. His partner nodded in agreement before hurling his own spear out at the girls, but it was instantly forced back as Luna emerged between them with her rapier present. The gilded weapon's rotation was immediately reversed and came spiraling back to the owner, sticking him in the stomach.

"Shit, get it out!" He groaned, trying to free himself.

Ignoring the request of his clone, Diarmuid sprinted past him and towards Jupiter who was still forming fists when she noticed him. Jupiter readied herself for an attack when she listened to something echo in her mind. Words, a phrase. She listened intently as it echoed what seemed like a thousand times in just a second before she clenched her fist at her side.

"My guardian Jupiter! Brew a storm! Call the clouds! Bring down the lightning!" Jupiter pulled back her arm before a mass amount of electricity ran around her fist as she landed a direct punch into Diarmuid's chest.

Behind her punch she felt another force adding pressure to it and as she completed the swing of her arm an explosion of thunder boomed throughout the alley. The clone was hurled back down the alley and crashed into the wall before skidding across the ground.

"Girls together now!" Luna commanded and looked back to Naru who was face down in the alley. The blast from Jupiter's punch had knocked her out of the sitting position Luna had left her in.

Moon held her lance out and began to charge energy in it, the tip glowed bright as she focused all of her power inside.

"Jupiter, put your hand over hers!" Luna commanded.

"Uh sure, whatever." Slowly Jupiter gripped Moon's hand and felt the energy in her hands being sucked out, she could feel the other girl's power within the blade, and then could feel her own meshing with hers.

The tip of the lance slowly began to change, from its smooth white form the blade came alive cracking with electricity a green outer glow. The girls nodded to each other before pushing all of their power inside before feeling it burst free.

The explosion echoed through the streets of Azabu-Juban and the power forced the girls back a few feet as an energy beam infused with electricity shot through the alley. The blast pierced through the clones and through a building across the street as well. As the girls felt their energy being pushed through the blade the girls lost themselves in the booming noise and the blinding light of their attack.

Moon awoke first, close to an hour later, with a hazy mind and pounding head. With ringing ears she rose to her feet and teetered around before Luna helped her by leaning her against the wall. "Take it easy... You put a lot into that attack." she gave a soft chuckle. "More than I thought possible at this point."

"What – happened?" she grabbed Luna's shoulders, she was seeing three of the same woman and wanted to get a hold on which was real.

"You won Moon, you and Warrior Jupiter won." Luna said as she looked back to the other Warrior who was still out cold, with several people in white coats surrounding her. "But you put a lot into your last attack, a little too much in fact."

"I – I just wanted to protect Naru, and I felt so angry at him..."

"Well you did protect her, she's fine now." Moon shook her head, trying to rid herself of the hazy feeling and caught sight of Naru, leaning against the wall and staring at her feet.

"What about Diarmuid? Did he escape like Jadeite?"

"Heavens no..." Luna said seriously and looked to the side where what remained of the bodies lay.

"I wanna talk to them." Moon forced herself off from the wall and Luna supported her as she headed over.

"Okay okay, take it slow." Luna helped her ease down on the ground in front of the bodies before backing away slowly to check on Jupiter.

Moon placed her hands on her knees before removing her mask to get a better look at what lay before her.

Only about thirty percent of the original clones remained behind. The attack had blasted a whole through both of them and destroyed most of their bodies. From the top of their torso to their hips were gone, nothing but a large gaping hole was left in place. And only a curved strip of "flesh" connected their bodies, placed around them were blue devices that resembled lanterns that pegged Usagi's interest.

"Congratulations." One of the clones sputtered, upon closer inspection Usagi could see he had more of his body remaining than the other. The area damaged was the same, but perhaps the blast had missed whatever he still needed to communicate.

Moon hugged her knees and looked at the ground sadly. "Why?"

Diarmuid let out a mixture of a cough and a laugh and rolled his eyes.

"Why?" she asked again.

"Why what?" He asked back sharply.

"Why my friend?"

Diarmuid's face turned soft in that moment and his eyes became glassy as if tears might soon show themselves. At this point not even crying would make him seem human to her.

"She reminded me so much, of a woman I once loved, that loved me." He started and Usagi opened her eyes wide to look at him. "When I realized I had been revived, I assumed she had been revived as well and planned to find her. Soon after I was awakened I was informed about my job, about what might happen, but I was too focused on finding her. Shortly after I was put back to sleep and when I awoke again I was in that girl's room. I figured it had to have been fate that brought us together." His voice suddenly turned cold, Usagi could hear it in each word, the disdain he felt. "But she denied my love, said she didn't know me and threatened to throw me out! ME!"

"So you force yourself on her?!" Usagi rasped, tears dropping from her eyes.

"Not intentionally." He replied weakly. "I wanted, to remind her of the love we once had... However it seems she was not my Gráinn after all..." Usagi closed her eyes and more tears spilled over, falling to the ground like rain drops. "Do me a favor Warrior. They are keeping us alive with these lanterns in hopes to experiment on us further..."

Usagi looked to the blue lanterns again before observing the clones.

"It seems cruel, to experiment on an Experiment." Diarmuid tried to laugh at his own joke, but the noise he made didn't sound like any laugh Usagi had ever heard. "It seems death is the only way one may be free in this world. I do not wish to be a servant, or a lab rat any longer, for anyone."

Usagi bit her lip and nodded and began to crawl around the area, clicking off the lanterns one by one before reaching the final one between each of the bodies.

"Before we lose physical form, allow me to share some information with you." Diarmuid started, looking to his clone that looked to be far gone. Usagi's hand stopped in front of the lantern. "They created an Experiment of Sailor V."

"What?!" Usagi hissed at him.

Diarmuid smiled and tried to stifle a laugh, he paused and tilted his head as a heavy flow of blood began to leak from his mouth. "Do not fret. Experiment's cannot be made of still living beings, their test failed."

Usagi placed a hand over her heart and exhaled heavily. "I don't understand, why make an Experiment out of her?"

"Mainly to reveal her identity to them."

"Do they know? Do you know?!"

"I do, _they _do not."

Usagi paused and began to mull over what he said. "So you know, but never told? And the Experiment failed so they never found out."

"Yes."

Carefully Usagi reached to him and slid her nimble fingers over his hand, gripping it tightly. "Thank you." She whimpered, tears gathering on her lids ready to spill over.

"Farewell Cosmic Warrior." Diarmuid said with a bloody smile before Usagi clicked off the last lantern. Instantly the bodies blackened before they exploded into mounts of dark dust and particles that floated around her.

In her hand she held a clump of the dust before she spread her fingers, letting it seep through. In the distance she heard an angry scream and several men rushed over to her, yanking her away and shoving her off into a wall.

"Hey, it's you!" That was Jupiter's voice, Usagi tore her eyes away from the dust and noticed her friend was stretching her arms while she leaned on the wall. "I had no clue it was you in that suit, that's so cool what we did, even if I don't know how it's possible!"

"Excuse me." Usagi's eyes opened wide as she heard Naru's voice, instantly she slapped on her mask and began tapping her foot. From a crowd of what she guessed to be Guard members came Naru, glancing between Jupiter and the now masked Warrior Moon.

"I can't believe it..." Naru muttered, both of the girls turned to look at her as she looked at her hands. "You always come!" Naru rushed to Moon and grabbed her hand. "You always save me!"

"Err what?" Moon asked.

"That man you fought, he broke into my house a while ago, and you were there. I saw you!" She gripped the Warrior's hands tighter as she became more excited. "I remember passing out a few times, but when I came to I remember seeing a girl in blue suit with a mask fighting him! And someone said a girl in a blue suit was fighting against a monster from the pet shop too! It was you! And now you're here, you've saved me again, thank you..." Tears swelled in Naru's eyes as she wrapped her arms around Moon and the blonde smiled sweetly before prying Naru off.

"I'll never stop fighting to protect you Naru..." The girl stepped back from the Warrior as she reached a hand up to grab the bottom of her mask. "I'll never turn my back on a friend." Mentally reassuring herself it was the right choice, Usagi lifted the mask up over her face before she pulled it off completely. "I promise."

The blonde felt the weight of her friend fall on her as she rushed her and wrapped her arms back around her body. As she began to weep heavily into her shoulder Usagi rested her head against Naru's and rubbed her back.

"Usagi!"

Standing only a few feet away Jupiter scrunched up her face behind her mask, trying to hold back tears. "You guys..." She whined, feeling the tears spill over she rushed to the other two and embraced both of them in a large bear hug.

* * *

"You were forced to abandon the plan much sooner than anticipated. Jadeite... I'm very disappointed, how is it we were discovered?" Beryl asked to a bowing Jadeite, behind him was a court of monsters that were looking at the wounded man like a piece of meat.

"A Cosmic Warrior my Queen, and her Protector showed up. I sent the energy collected my Queen, to assure how plan did not fail." Jadeite answered with a faint smile, trying desperately to prove he was still capable.

"Really?" Beryl asked childishly. "Jadeite, do you see me looking over _any _kind of energy?"

"No my Queen."

"Because it was never received!" Beryl slammed her hands down onto the sides of the throne. "Because of your incompetence we have lost ALL of the energy collected from the absurd gym plan of yours! And where are those useless Experiment lackeys of yours?"

"I dispatched them so I could make my escape my Queen..." He retorted pitifully.

"And what a poor escape it was." From the crowd of monsters came a voice Jadeite despised, breaking through the crowd came a man with thick shiny brown hair and a build much for suitable for battle than Jadeite's boyish frame.

"So glad you could join us, Nephrite." Beryl said calmly, pleased to see him.

"My pleasure my Queen." Before reaching them he bowed and when he rose began to circle Jadeite. "You don't look so good, perhaps you ought to retire your position now? Leave Queen Beryl's plan up to someone more, capable."

"I'm perfectly capable!" Jadeite spat.

"Then prove it." Beryl challenged.

"I will my Queen, I swear on my life. I will not disappoint you."

* * *

Later that evening as the clocks in Tokyo were about to hit midnight, a woman dressed in a green suit paced back and forth across an office floor. She checked her watch again, the fifth time in the past ten minutes.

"He's not coming, Bikuta, get in the booth and start." She ordered to a large man of seven feet who stood patiently by the door. He entered a small room with only a table, a chair, and a microphone inside and eased himself into the seat.

The man then leaned forward, resting his large lanky arms on the table, his lips stopping in front of the microphone.

"Good evening all you night owls, it's the midnight hour and you know what that means. Time for, the love line. Tonight's letter comes from..."

* * *

End of Chapter Ten**  
**

* * *

Next, Usagi's commitment to study harder has left her with little free time, leaving Warrior Venus and Warrior Jupiter to take care of things. A faux radio show, an Experiment-Youma hybrid, just what is the Dark Kingdom up to? And when the newest Warrior comes face to face with the notorious jewel thief, who will come out on top? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Eleven - Savage Love, Dearest Storm**


	11. Savage Love, Dearest Storm

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about. I do however own the cover image for this story.

**Note: **Over 100k words! Woo! Thanks to SadieSwirl for beta'ing this chapter. Also, Sadie suggested I add some cute/romantic stuff into this chapter, so I try. Thanks everyone for the support, this story has gone better than I originally thought and I've really enjoyed writing it and sharing it with you all. Onto the chapter! Hope you enjoy.

**Review Notes: - avesiji: **Glad you enjoyed.

**- DonovanX: **Thanks for the input, I'll keep it in mind and try to implement it into future chapters.

**- Lunary: **Here at the Cosmic Warriors compound; epic is what we aim for.

* * *

**CHAPTER ELEVEN - Savage Love, Dearest Storm**

* * *

The normally quiet bedroom in apartment 910 of an Azabu-Juban high-rise apartment complex was full of laughter this particular night.

Usagi and Ami had finally found a day to get together to study, Usagi only wished Naru could tag along. Even after revealing her identity to her Naru still was a bit shaken by the encounter outside Shapely. She stayed home Monday and Tuesday, but took Usagi's calls after school and turned down the invite to Ami's apartment.

While Usagi waited for Ami to return with the snacks she promised Usagi cradled Luna until a ringing went off in her bag. Luna hopped onto Ami's bed while Usagi dug around inside for the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey! Usagi, you busy?" It was Minako; in the background Usagi heard the soft hum of an engine.

"I'm at a friend's, to study."

"Ew... Why not put off work today for tomorrow?"

"Wrong Minako! It's why do today what you can put off until tomorrow!"

Usagi suppressed a giggle hearing Artemis correct her in the background. "I wish I didn't have to study, but yeah..." she looked down to her English homework with disgust.

"So why do it? I thought you hated school."

"Ugh, I do." Usagi rolled her eyes and leaned back on her arms. "But it's with Ami, you remember Ami right?"

"That blue haired girl."

"Yup! We've been trying to get together for a while now and finally set a date. Plus, Luna still doesn't trust her and is tagging along to do some snooping."

"So you _are _busy." Minako sounded defeated through the small black phone.

"Why?"

"Artemis and I are following up on a lead, figured two blondes was better than one." In the backseat of a sports car Minako laid stretched out over the backseat twirling around a strand of her hair while the white haired Protector drove.

"More Warrior business..." groaned Usagi.

"Don't sound so glum!"

"I can't, it feels like every time I turn around someone needs saving or there's something dangerous in the city." Usagi paused for a moment, looking up at the white and swirly ceiling.

"Isn't that why you decided to be a Cosmic Warrior; to protect?" Luna chided from across the room.

Usagi dropped her head back and let her jaw go slack, a clarion groan escaping from her mouth.

"Anyway, have fun studying. Bye Usagi, bye Luna." Minako kissed at the phone.

"Be safe." Usagi replied before ending the call and slipping the phone away. "So, do you sense any evil at work here Luna?" Usagi tugged on the skin under her eye and waggled her tongue at Luna.

"Don't get smart Usagi!" Luna screeched at her. "This is very serious, under normal conditions we wouldn't have let you come here tonight. Ami has not been cleared as a potential affiliate of the Dark Kingdom." Luna hissed and her temper flared as she sensed Usagi wasn't paying her any attention. "You know this could be a trap!"

"Oh calm down!" Usagi waved a hand at the cat, dismissing her. "I trust her. If she was as evil as you say, she had plenty of chances to do something."

"You're too trusting..." muttered Luna.

"You're too tense, you're a cat Luna! Chase some mice, take a nap, and relax!"

Luna exposed her claws at that and was ready to attack the girl until the door opened and Ami strolled inside.

"I got the things you wanted, Usagi." The girl looked overwhelmed carrying several small bags of chips, candy and a plastic bag that looked like it might bust open from holding so many cans of pop.

"Yum!" Usagi rushed to the girl and gladly took the treats off her hands. She plopped back down onto the floor a moment later and began to rip open the bags.

"Did you practice the sentences?" Ami asked as she poured out a small serving of chips onto a napkin for herself.

"Totally..." Usagi nodded and popped a small piece of chocolate into her mouth.

"Okay, then let's hear them." Ami sat up straight across her at the table.

"Er..." Usagi glanced to the book uneasily before hunching over the table. "Okay, I didn't read it! Ami it's too hard, I don't know how you can study like this every night!"

"Usagi..." Ami laughed and rubbed her forehead. "It's fun once you get into it and start seeing the results of all the work you put in."

"The day I see anything besides an F on my Algebra test is the day I'll believe you." Usagi waved a half-eaten chocolate bar at her before biting off a chunk.

"If you do the homework and study I bet you could get an A." Ami rested her chin in her palm and offered Usagi a sweet and comforting smile.

"Thanks Ami... It's nice to have someone believe in me."

"Your parents don't?"

Usagi snatched up a can of pop and opened it while she shook her head. "Maybe they do I don't know, but mom is ALWAYS yelling at me! And threatening to lock me out of the house, what kind of parent does that?"

"She just wants you to do well..."

"I'd like to do well too, but having smart friends like you and Umino, it's hard to keep up." She continued to shake her head before chugging the pop and slapping the can onto the table.

"Usagi, I'm your friend?"

"What, are you crazy? Of course!" Usagi spread her arms out wide. "Unless you invite strangers over and buy them candy and pop on a regular basis."

"Thanks Usagi..." Ami held her face in her hands and smiled at the table, not wanting to catch the blonde's eyes. "Here, let's sound out the sentences, it's easy when you break them down."

The girls continued to study on through the night, it wasn't until Saeko arrived home Ami even knew how much time passed. The girls began to clean up and Usagi stuffed away her school books and after saying her good-byes, headed home.

"I can't believe we stayed out so late. Mom is gonna murder me!" Usagi sprinted down the walk and glanced at a pink bunny watch on her wrist. _11:24 pm. _"_And_ it's a school night!"

Luna sighed as she ran alongside the girl. "Don't drag me into this Usagi, I never wanted to go in the first place." she reminded.

Usagi let out a frustrated wail before skidding to a stop on the corner; to her left she gazed into a window display case of a wedding cake. "Yum-my!"

Luna continued off down the street, glancing back to Usagi. "Pick up the pace Usagi!" In her peripherals she saw twin head lights on her left coming for her. Instantly she froze in her spot, unable to comprehend clearly. Even the car's horns didn't make her understand.

"Luna!"

As the vehicle came closer the light flooded the cat's vision before the squealing of the car's tires pierced the noise in her head and a black car pulled to a stop a few feet away.

"Luna!" Usagi ran to her and scooped her up. "Are you alright?"

"I – I'm fine..."

"Is she okay?" Came a voice from the driver's side.

"She's fine! But SOMEBODY needs to learn how to drive!" Usagi rushed to the car and slapped the hood. "You almost flattened my cat!"

"If it's your cat, you should keep a better eye on her, dumpling head! She almost got run over!"

Usagi's eyes widened and her jaw went slack as she moved around the car, out from in front of the lights, and got a clear look at who was driving.

"Jerk face." Usagi fumed and felt heat rush to her head. She was thankful it was dark outside; perhaps it could hide her beet red face. "You almost hit her!"

Mamoru swung open his door and stepped out. "And if you had been watching her, none of this would have happened."

"Are you even going to apologize?!"

"For what? She looks fine to me."

"Ugh!" Usagi clenched her fists before slamming her foot against one of the tires and storming off.

As she headed off down the street she heard the soft purr of a car engine creeping behind her. One quick glance alerted her that Mamoru was following her.

Usagi cast a dark glare at the driver before speeding up. "Leave me alone!" she barked.

Mamoru smirked and sped up and pulled up beside her. "Get in; let's grab a bite to eat."

Usagi raised a curious eyebrow at him before she picked up her pace. "Mom told me never to get into cars with boys I don't know, especially jerks like you!"

"Did she also tell you it was okay to roam the streets at night?" He asked back plainly.

Usagi froze in her spot and cast him another dark glare.

"Get in." he smiled.

Usagi paused for a moment, from the day she'd met Mamoru she knew he was handsome. But his personality always turned her off to it. Reluctantly she walked to the car and slid into the passenger side.

They rode in silence for a while, a silence that made Usagi uncomfortable. She kept her eyes in her lap, watching Luna, but occasionally she glanced over to the driver. Watching the street lights illuminate his face, and those deep blue eyes.

Slowly Mamoru pulled the car to a stop across the street from an all-night doughnut shop. As he exited the car Usagi undid her seat belt and sighed.

"I don't like this Usagi, you barely know him." Luna said.

"For once Luna, I agree with you. We should have just ran home..." Usagi kicked the door open and slammed it shut as stepped out onto the street, only for Mamoru's hands to place themselves on her hips and pull her back.

"Watch it!" He barked as a car sped down the street, coming from Usagi's blind spot off to the right.

"Sorry..." she said quietly and glanced to her hips, that Mamoru still had a firm hold on. Slowly she turned back to gaze up at him, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "Mamoru..."

"What?"

"You're – still holding onto me..."

"Oh!" Instantly his hands snapped back to his side and he maneuvered out from behind her. "Sorry, uh, let's go." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and began to walk across the street. Usagi stood still for a moment, the feeling of his hands still tingling through her body when Luna swatted at her.

Once he reached the sidewalk Mamoru glanced back across the street, frowning at Usagi hadn't moved. "Are you coming?"

"Uh-huh."

Inside the shop Mamoru ordered a dozen doughnuts for them, but it was proving to not be enough once Usagi started eating all of them on her own.

"Take it easy..." Mamoru watched the girl as she clutched two doughnuts and took turns biting out of each; meanwhile he nursed a decaf coffee. "No one is going to want to date you if you eat like that in public..."

"Why do you care?" Usagi asked with narrowed eyes and a mouth full of dough. "And why are you being so nice?"

"Maybe I feel a little bad for almost flattening your cat." he shrugged. "I was speeding a little."

"Mhm." She hummed and ran her tongue along the bottom of a doughnut to catch some falling filling. "So, why are you out so late?

Mamoru shrugged before raising the cup to his lips. "Just because. So, Motoki is back, I bet you're happy."

Usagi nodded and tore off a piece for Luna to nibble. "'Bout time, we need more decent guys around her." She smiled devilishly at him, enjoying pushing his buttons.

"Heh. If only you knew."

Usagi eyed Mamoru carefully, he wasn't himself, but all thoughts about him went out the window when her bunny watch beeped for the hour. "Midnight!" Usagi slid out of the booth they'd taken and rushed to the counter.

Mamoru watched her curiously before she returned a minute later with a small blue radio that she set down onto the table. "What's that for –?"

"Shh, hush." Usagi waved a hand in his face as she fiddled with the dials and found the station she wanted.

"Good evening all you night owls, it's the midnight hour and you know what that means. Time for, the love line. Tonight's letter comes from –"

"What is this? Some lame midnight love show?" Mamoru asked and snatched up the radio, fiddling with the dials trying to find something more interesting.

"Stop it! I want to hear!" Usagi clamped her hands around it and snatched it back.

"You should stop living in the clouds airhead! This stuff is fake." Mamoru clamped his hands around the girl's wrist and pulled back, but froze when he came in contact with the golden bracelet she had around her wrist. His eyes went wide as burning sensation raced through his body, emitting from the hand in contact with the bracelet.

"You're the only airhead!" Usagi yanked back on the radio and Mamoru let his fingers slip from around it, sending Usagi flying over into another table. He remained frozen as Usagi caused the table to fall on its side and the girl flushed trying to fix her skirt as she stood.

"You're such a jerk! You tick me off!" Usagi slammed the radio down onto the table and slapped a hand against Mamoru's coffee. The piping java that splashed across his chest and into his lap snapped him from his daze.

Usagi rushed out of the shop with Luna trailing after her while Mamoru tried to keep his wet clothing from touching his skin. "Dammit!" Holding his black shirt he began to shake it, trying to cool it down and while the radio continued to play the transmission the voice reading began to sound somewhat familiar.

"That letter came from Haruna the Dreamer in Juubangai. We're sharing everyone's love letters on this show." Mamoru picked the radio up again and adjusted the volume before pressing it to his ear. "If you have your letter read, we'll send you a flower broach that –"

Mamoru flared his nostrils and switched the radio off. He cleaned up the coffee the best he could, and left behind some money before hopping into his car. After taking off he turned the radio on and began to flip through the channels before finding the same station.

He rode in silence, listening contently to the voice that read and became surer of his guess with each word the reader spoke. Occasionally his mind reminded him of the sensation he felt touching the bracelet.

* * *

The following day in a second story bedroom filled with stuffed animals, Minako doodled away on her science homework while Artemis lay beside her. The Protector tapped away on a device he referred to as a personal data assistant. When she asked where he bought it, he simply flashed the back of the device and instantly she recognized it to belong to the Guard.

"Artemis..." she sighed. "What's photosynthesis?"

"You're asking the wrong person." He shook his head, not wanting to get caught up in her schoolwork. "Got it!"

"I hope you're talking about the definition."

"No, a location on the broadcast we've been following." He tossed the PDA down onto Minako's textbook and the blonde scanned the screen.

"That's really close, like too close to home to be okay with." She nodded and placed it back in his hands.

"Too close for comfort." he corrected.

Minako eyed a scribble in the corner of her book telling her to go to page 342. "Yeah, that's what I said."

Artemis narrowed his eyes at her before looking back to the PDA. "Apparently, Usagi's teacher passed out in class today while she was wearing a flower pin she received from this radio station."

After finding a crude drawing of the male anatomy on the page Minako sighed. "Guess it's stupid to ask if this is _their_ doing." she shut her book. It was obvious she wasn't getting any homework done.

"Tonight we'll infiltrate." Artemis looked at the PDA and began to tap around on it.

"Aye aye commander."

"Captain."

"Huh?"

* * *

Many hours later Makoto was sitting patiently in the lobby of a late-night pawn shop waiting for the jeweler to finish fixing one of her rose earrings. It had dropped into a cake batter recently and it wasn't until she had taken an electric beater to the mixture that she realized she had lost it.

"Ms. Kino." A stout tan man with hair only on the sides of his head stepped up to a glass counter and held his hands out. Makoto shot up from her seat and eyed the small pink earring in his hand. "Good as new!"

"Thanks a bunch!" She flipped her hair over her shoulder and placed the earring in and sighed happily.

"Be careful with them." He reminded as she turned to leave.

"I will, for sure!"

"Next time you bake a cake, it better be for me!"

Makoto winked to the man and pressed her hand against the door and glanced around outside, she'd been out running around all day. It was well into the evening now and the flickering streetlights illuminated the dark streets in the city. After school she had her chance to meet with the Protectors and receive the same briefing Usagi had and get some training in.

As she was preparing to push her way outside, from across the street she spotted a masked man sprinting across the road heading straight for her.

She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to discern what was really happening before she ducked as the man leapt for the door. As she crouched onto the ground, he burst through the door and crossed the room to leap over the counter. Other customers instantly hit the ground and began to scream, Makoto struggled to see where the man had gone exactly.

"Take a seat old man; I'm not interested in hurting anyone." Tuxedo Mask gripped the man's shirt front before forcing him down onto the ground.

Once he was sure no one would try to be a hero he revealed his cane and placed it gently onto the first display case. A moment later as a short high pitched noise filled the room each glass display case shattered, sending glass flying around the showroom.

Mask crouched down in front of the cases one by one and began to search through them one by one.

"Please, take whatever you want, just don't hurt us!" The jeweler pleaded.

"You don't listen, do you old man?" Mask smirked while he examined a clear crystal before shuffling down to another set of cases.

Crouched near the door Makoto rubbed her wrists anxiously and watched the man search through the assorted jewels. No time to call for anyone to help her and the police might be able to take the guy she thought, but it was her job to stop him.

As she crossed her wrists near the floor the sound of an alarm came from the ceiling. Mask stood tall and glared down at the cowering man.

"It's an automatic response..." He whimpered and Mask leapt over him before he busted through the back door.

"Everyone stay down!" Makoto shouted and followed after Mask. She threw herself through the back door and saw a narrow staircase leading up and at the top she saw the end of the man's black and red cape disappear around the corner.

"Wait!" She hollered before she started up the steps, taking them two at a time.

At the top of the last staircase Mask kicked out a metal door that led to the roof. He sprinted across the gravel topped roof until he reached the edge.

"End of the line." Makoto pushed through the door, but kept to the shadows. "Return what you took, I won't repeat myself!"

"It's quite cute of you to be the hero here, but I'm not the bad guy." Mask retorted with his back to the girl, his eyes scanning the surrounding buildings.

"Don't patronize me!" Makoto shouted, feeling a heat rush to her head. "I said return what you stole!"

"No, I feel I'm entitled to them." he mused.

"You'll regret that, I'm gonna make you so sorry you won't be able to feel anything!" Crossing her wrists in front of her Makoto tapped her metallic bracelets and instantly a streak of electricity circuited her hands before it spread into a flash of light.

Warrior Jupiter stretched out her fingers and prepared herself to charge Mask. She'd only had some very basic training with the Guard, but she felt confident enough to handle one low-life thief on her own.

"A Cosmic Warrior..." Mask spoke slowly and approached her with a nonthreatening hand outstretched. "Listen, I'm not your enemy."

"You sure seem like one." Jupiter charged power in her fists and narrowed her eyes, not wanting to lose sight of him or miss any movement he made.

"Listen to me! I'm really not the bad guy!" He took another step forward to her and Jupiter slammed her fists together and from the gauntlets a bolt of lightning struck the space between them.

"Come any closer and who you are won't matter once I've turned you into a pile of ash!"

Mask tilted his head in disappointment and slowly eased backwards. "Why are girls so difficult...?"

* * *

Not far from Jupiter and Mask's roof standoff, Minako and Artemis were waiting in the lobby of the radio station while a clueless secretary tried to find records for the Midnight Zero show.

"Artemis, can we go now?" Minako asked with a heavy groan.

The man glanced to a black clock on the wall, it read a few minutes before midnight. "Sure." Artemis rose from his seat and stepped up to the information desk where the flustered worker was.

"I'm sorry; I really cannot find anything for that show. Are you sure you have the right station?"

Artemis smiled to her before he leaned over the desk and swung a hand around to her face, stopping just short of making contact with her. Between his fingers Minako could see the woman's pupils dilating rapidly before her eyes rolled back and she dropped to the floor.

Artemis headed away from the desk and Minako whispered an apology to the woman before she followed after him. Each time they encountered a worker in the hall Artemis had used the same trick to put them to sleep. After the fourth person Minako had stopped bothering to issue apologies.

The duo trekked through the building until they found the room Artemis said was oozing with dark energy. Peering through the window Minako could see a thin woman sitting on top of a control panel and looking into the radio room where a man sat at a table speaking into a microphone. Standing in front of the door to that room was a large older attractive man.

"What do you see?" Artemis whispered.

"Some fine looking people, her skirt is _in_." Minako gave a snap for emphasis and Artemis slapped his forehead.

"Anything relevant to our mission?!" He asked again, this time in a harsher whisper.

"Jadeite's in there, reading messages. And there's two other people, don't know who they are, but I doubt they're human."

"Jadeite? Alright, let's go." Artemis said and Minako stepped back before he kicked the door in.

In the process, a flash of light blinded those inside from seeing who had intruded. As the light cleared the heads in the room turned to the intruders and Jadeite glanced in their direction as well.

"Playing with the heart is a serious crime! Anyone who does it is not someone I can never forgive!"

Jadeite rose from his seat and glared at Warrior Venus and gave a swift hand motion that the woman noticed and lunged at Venus. Before she could reach her Artemis slid into the room, his rapier pointed out in front of him and warded off the woman.

"I see, looks like the gang's all here tonight. Destroy them Flau, Bikuta!" commanded Jadeite from the next room.

"As you wish master." The large man said. Bikuta was an extremely tall and muscular man, who towered over Venus. He had large dark green eyes, thick brown eyebrows and long brown hair. He wore a loose red shirt and black pants with several silver bracelets on his wrists.

"Yes sir." The woman hissed and clutched a flower brooch on her jacket, dark energy flowing from it and coating her body. Through the murky cloud around her body Artemis could see her appearance changing drastically. Her short red hair turn dark and wild and her fair skin became a dull pink. Her two piece green suit vanished and from the darkness a teal dress covered her body.

"Are Youma ever good looking?" Artemis asked aiming his blade at the woman's face that had sharp and strong features like a pointed jaw and tight mouth with yellow eyes.

"This one is pretty cute." Venus joked as she held her hand out, her heart disc forming in it from a burst of orange light. "I'm taking this fight to go Artemis; it's too cramped in here!" Venus backed out of the room slowly and to her surprise Bikuta followed.

"Spinta!" With a flick of his blade Artemis fired a pale blue light at Flau that sent her crashing into the wall. He quickly spun around to face the glass wall separating him from Jadeite.

Jadeite flinched for a moment watching Artemis approach the glass. "I hope you don't think it will be that easy to stop us." Jadeite mused.

"This job wouldn't be any fun if it was." Artemis tapped the glass in front of him twice, but Flau coming from his right distracted him and he spun around to avoid her charge.

"You seem different from the others I've fought." Venus said as she leapt back from Bikuta after trying a few simple attacks, all of which he avoided flawlessly.

"Thank you."

Venus furrowed her brow and hurled her disc out to him, the two halves breaking open and the chain emerging from within. "Venus Heart Attack!"

With one sweeping arm motion Bikuta slapped one half of the heart and forced the entire piece into the wall.

Venus gasped and recalled the weapon before attaching the halves to her wrists and charging for him.

"Time for a new plan!" She cried and leapt into the air, flipping over and bringing her leg down onto him. Bikuta crossed his arms over his head to avoid the attack and Venus flipped over and began to make large slashes at him, each of which Bikuta weaved out of range for.

"Ugh. Stay still!" After several rapid jabs at him, Venus settled for attacking his arms. Easier targets since he swung them around when he dodged any other attack. Bikuta recognized the change in her attacks and kept his arms raised to avoid the blades.

With frustration flooding her mind Venus flipped backwards out of range, although she didn't think he would attack either way. Judging by his size she thought trying to overpower him physically would be a waste of time.

"Time for something a little different." Venus slammed her hands together, the two halves of her disc reconnecting before she removed it from her wrists. "Venus' Shot of Love!" As she held the disc in front of her it began to glow a bright orange before a thick beam of light shot from the center.

The force pushed Venus back slightly and Bikuta's eyes opened wide as the beam pierced his abdomen. "Gotcha!" Venus cheered and watched the man collapse onto the ground. "But it doesn't feel much like a victory. Artemis I'm finished!" She chirped and poked her head back inside the studio room. Pinned against the wall was Flau with Artemis' rapier through her chest.

"That was quick."

"He didn't put up _any _kind of fight." Venus turned to the glass window, to Jadeite. "What kind of Youma are you guys recruiting? They're pathetic."

In a flash Jadeite pressed himself against the glass and startled Venus. "Are you that dim girl? A Youma that won't fight?" Jadeite threw his head back laughing and slowly backed away from the glass. "Bikuta is a special creature belonging to the Dark Kingdom..."

As Artemis removed his blade, Flau's body collapsed to the floor and he positioned himself in front of the glass. "Whatever he is, he's gone now, and you're next." With a single thrust forward the tip of the blade tapped the glass and shattered it in the same second, spraying the inside of the room with the broken fragments.

"Heh..." Jadeite backed up against the wall as Artemis hopped inside with him and slowly began to merge with it and was soon out of sight.

"Always running away..." Venus shook her head before turning to the doorway, in the hall she heard the sound of shuffling before something heavy hit the wall outside. "Hello?" Venus slid into the hallway for a look but staggered back into the door at what was pressed against the wall.

Bikuta was up, and larger than he was before. His skin was a golden brown, his shirt lay tattered at his feet and each of his bulging muscles were exposed. His abdomen, the hole in it, seemed to heal around the wound. With a shaky head Bikuta glanced to Venus, his eyes were wide with white iris with red pupils.

After taking in his new size her eyes glanced to his side where he clutched a large weapon, the length of a small child. At first it looked like two long curved blades, but in the middle was a metal block that connected the two separate blades. Bikuta held the weapon by clutching one of the blades, his hold on it cut into his skin and his blood ran down the length of the bottom blade.

"Artemis, we have a small – problem."

The man inside poked a head out into the hall and his jaw dropped. "I thought you said you were finished?!"

"Something's different about him..." Venus began to push Artemis back inside the room as Bikuta's expression changed, from blank to vicious.

In an instant, a flash of silver sliced through the wall and whipped around the room before cutting back through the wall. Venus and Artemis hit the floor and crawled into the adjacent room before standing back up. Bikuta stomped his way through the doorway, breaking off some of the doorframe and wall in the process.

"There's the fight I was looking for." Venus smiled and held her disc at arm's length. "Venus' Shot of Love!" In a flash of light, an orange beam shot from the disc and headed straight for Bikuta. Although the small distance between them shouldn't have been enough time to take action, Bikuta swung his weapon up and deflected the blast and sent it through the ceiling.

"Spinta!" Artemis held out his blade and a pale flash of light smashed into Bikuta's chest. The giant seemed unfazed by the attack and raised his free hand, jutting it out towards the duo. A moment later a strong force threw them back against the wall.

"Oww! What the hell was that?" Artemis groaned it felt as if he had been slammed into by a truck.

"He did something freaky with his hand." Venus retorted and prepared to fire another beam before hands shot out of the wall behind them and cupped over their mouths.

Between the two of them Jadeite's head emerged and began to snicker. "I can't thank you enough for waking him up." He nodded to Bikuta whose rage seemed to calm at Jadeite's appearance.

Venus and Artemis struggled to pull away from Jadeite, but whatever force had thrown them back was still there, pushing them back against the wall.

"You see, after seeing the destructive power of a Youma and the efficiency of controlling an Experiment, we decided to combine them." Jadeite snarled into Venus' ear who shot a frantic look to Bikuta. "But they aren't perfect. When they're _sleeping_, as we call it, they're perfect little helpers. They take orders exceptionally well and are perfect at infiltrating. But when they're awakened they become mindless killing machines who barely listen to anyone, except their creators."

Artemis began to open his mouth in hopes to bite down on Jadeite's hand but the man tightened his grip on his jaw before he could. "But, I guess a mindless murderer can be useful too huh?" Jadeite gave a cold snicker before releasing the two and began to sink back into the wall, before disappearing completely his gloved fingers snapped and Bikuta let out a loud roar.

Tossing his weapon into his other hand Bikuta held out his right and a strong force yanked Venus out of the room.

"Venus!" Artemis cried, trying to grab hold of the girl.

As Venus flew in towards Bikuta the man raised his blade above his head. Venus broke her disc open, revealing the blades, and as the man's arm came down for her she made a quick slash at it.

* * *

Meanwhile Warrior Jupiter and Tuxedo Mask were running around the rooftop, the latter avoiding rouge bolts of lightning Jupiter was bringing down. She had gathered enough power and sending attacks in his direction was as simple as holding a fist in that direction.

"Jupiter!" Mask shouted as he pressed himself up against the heating duct. "I'm not your enemy, let me prove it!"

"You had your chance when I told you to return the jewels!" Jupiter hollered. She clenched her fists tightly and the power gathering in her gauntlets broke free, sending thin streaks of lightning digging through the gravel.

"She's going get me killed, and using the glider is too risky in this weather." Mask looked to the sky.

Dark storm clouds had gathered over them as Jupiter continuously gathered power. The wind on the roof had gone cold and picked up power. Occasionally it was more than Jupiter's lightning that struck the roof and some of the antennas on it.

"A little lightning is the least of your worries, Mask." Behind him came Jadeite's voice, the man emerged from a duct and wrapped an arm around Mask's neck. "Hand over these _jewels _you've stolen!"

"I wondered when you'd show up." Mask retorted before snapping his head back until it collided with Jadeite's and the man released him. Mask leapt away from the duct as Jadeite's body fully emerged from it, one hand covering his face.

"I warned you to stop!"

"Jadeite!" Jupiter shouted from across the roof. She held her arms out and a streak of lightning ran over her fists. She remembered him from Shapely as well as the briefing she'd received from Iah.

"Look at that... Another Cosmic Warrior. The night is full of unwanted guests!" Jadeite jumped into the sky and as he rose Jupiter fired out a bolt at him. The man ducked under before throwing a hand out and sending Jupiter flying back across the roof.

At his side several red darts came for him but holding a hand out each of them dissolved into dust before they reached him. "Better luck next time." He hissed before throwing a hand out to Mask, the force that followed blew the man off the roof and sent him tumbling over the side.

As Jadeite flew to the edge to watch Mask plummet a rouge bolt from the sky struck down near the edge beside him. The man shielded his face before glaring towards Jupiter and then to the sky. "She's out of control." He muttered before clapping his hands together and spreading them, a dark flame-blade forming between them.

Jadeite growled as Jupiter's body seemed to fly across the distance, he readied himself as the girl pulled a fist back and brought it down onto the blade.

With a roar, the force behind the punch intensified to Jadeite's surprise and sent him crashing down onto the roof and skidding away.

"Damn." Jadeite muttered and got to his feet, holding his blade as if he was preparing to jab at her. Before either had a chance to strike a blur of black swept past them and drew their attention to the sky where Tuxedo Mask was circling over the roof.

"Stubborn as ever!" Jadeite brought his sword to his lips where he exhaled heavily onto it. Quickly he threw his arm out, making a large slash in the air and from the blade erupted a thick wave of fire.

"Savage Thunder!" Jupiter ran towards one of the heating ducts and pushed off it, flying towards Jadeite before she brought her hands down onto the roof. Upon impact a wave of thunder spread across the roof like a dome, forcing Jadeite near the edge and pushing Mask higher up.

As Jadeite teetered near the edge his body quickly vanished and reappeared a few feet away, safely on the roof again. "She's going to kill us all..." As he prepared himself to strike a rumbling above in the clouds broke his focus.

It started dull at first and quickly died only to roar back to life as rolling thunderous sound. It overpowered each of their senses and before they could prepare for it, several streaks of lightning broke through the heavens and struck the rooftop in succession.

Jupiter held up one hand that was quickly struck before throwing it out towards Jadeite. The man rolled to the side behind a small exhaust fan while the lightning storm continued. Up above Mask dodged and weaved several strikes before dropping to the ground and taking cover near the door.

"Cowards!" Jupiter threw her arms out and from them multiple streaks zipped across the rooftop while another clap of thunder echoed over Tokyo and sent another bolt down, breaking into several smaller streaks that zapped the roof.

From the other side of the roof came a dull rumble and cracking before the roof exploded, from it emerged Warrior Venus and Artemis.

"Pull!" Artemis commanded as he yanked back on his sword, the end of which had a bright yellow light attached to it that trailed off through the hole they came from. Beside him Venus pulled hard on her chain and together they pulled a flailing Bikuta out of the hole.

"Warrior Venus!" Jupiter cried.

"Glad you're here!" Venus panted.

"Same, I've got Dark Kingdom trash and a masked thief on the run."

"Girls, watch it!" Artemis cried Jupiter and Venus spun around to see Bikuta, missing an arm hurling his double-sided axe at them.

"Not again!" Venus rushed to the side and swung her chain out, the end fastening around the mid-section. With all of her strength Venus tugged back on the axe as it continued to fly, in the corner of her eye she saw Bikuta throw out his remaining hand. Instantly Venus felt the force propelling the axe increase.

In an instant the chain snapped in half and sent Venus flying while the weapon spiraled towards Jupiter, cutting through her and flying off the roof.

"Jupiter!" Artemis cried and rushed to her, crouching beside her as she struggled to cover the wound with her gauntlets.

"Oww..." Jupiter groaned.

Venus felt a burning in her eyes and as she rose to her feet the clouds above began to dissipate. "You were smart enough to avoid this before, but let's see you do it again!" Opening her hand her heart disc formed in a flash and was quickly hurled out towards the massive hybrid. "Venus Heart Attack!"

As it flew the disc broke into two and began to expand, the razor chain between the pieces growing longer as it reached him.

The hybrid held a hand out to effortlessly stop the attack. Once he did the chains sliced into his skin and the disc halves before to swing around his body, coiling more of the chain around him. As the chain finished wrapping around his frame the two disc halves lodged themselves into his chest and back.

"Gotcha!" Venus extended her hand before raising it above her. "Time to finish it. Venus' Raining Shot of Love!" The chains wrapped around Bikuta then flashed orange before vanishing from his body, reforming in the sky above him as a round link. "Now!" Venus brought her hand down and from the link broke off thin segments that changed into orange streaks of energy that sliced through his body as they fell.

Behind her the sound of blades clashing caught her attention and with a quick glance back she saw Mask and Jadeite, parrying each other's blows near the roof edge.

"Artemis, get Jupiter to safety!" Venus said as she rushed past the two and headed for Jadeite.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Artemis huffed as he started to lift up her body and carry her off, stopping at the door as heavy footsteps could be heard from the other side. "Damn."

"Tuxedo Mask!" Venus called out and the man turned back as she ran for him. Quickly he held his sword out for her which she stepped onto before he hoisted her into the air.

In her hand formed an orange light and from around Bikuta's fallen body came the fragments of her heart disc. "Venus' Shot of Love!" Holding her disc out an orange beam fired out to Jadeite.

The man furrowed his brow before swinging his blade at the beam and the orange light burst into thin yellow slivers. In the corner of his eye he spotted Mask rushing in, slipping his sword down between them he blocked the man's attack.

"You'll have to try harder than that!" He smirked before Venus too charged him; disc pieces attached to her wrists, and made large slashes at him.

Jadeite leapt backwards before several of Mask's red darts flew at him. He flipped around and hovered over the edge of the roof to avoid them but quickly dropped as another orange beam came at him.

"Tsk!" He grunted as he hovered, parallel to the building now before seeing Mask leap off over the edge.

"Nowhere to run!" Mask roared and jabbed Jadeite in his abdomen with his sword. Jadeite struggled to push the man off, but the force of the falling man only forced the blade in deeper until it pierced through his back.

"Gah!"

Mask closed his eyes as the Shitennou's blood splattered his mask and face. With a groan Jadeite pressed a hand to Mask's chest, a ball of dark energy forming between them. Mask smiled before slamming his hand into Jadeite's throat with a chopping motion. The man coughed hard and Mask released his hold on him, tugging his sword free in the process.

Jadeite's fall turned into a nose dive as the weakened man was unable to take control and Mask flipped around in the air before his hang glider assisted him in flying around the building.

"Looks like he's done for Artemis." Venus commented from the roof's edge, watching Jadeite's body fall farther.

"Good, now we need a way out of here." Artemis retorted tapping his blade against the door. "The police are on the other side." From the tip of the blade came a pale green flash that covered the door.

"Back the way we came?" Venus offered, moving towards the hole in the roof they made. Artemis picked up the groaning Jupiter and made his way to the hole, Venus hopped down inside and held her arms up.

Slowly Artemis lowered Jupiter down through the hole and Venus supported her body until he dropped in and they supported her equally.

The three of them made their way out of the building slowly, and Jupiter fell in and out of consciousness on the way. Once they were back inside Artemis' car, Minako stroked Makoto's hair as the girl mumbled and whined about her wound.

"Should we take her to the Guard?" Minako asked.

"I think the hospital will be a better choice, Saeko is working tonight."

* * *

The following day after school Usagi and Naru made a trip to the hospital after Minako informed her about what happened on the roof.

Feeling guilty about not being there, Usagi decided on buying her a cherry pie to cheer her up, however by the time they made it to her room only one slice remained.

"Blame Luna, she got hungry." Usagi hummed as Makoto looked over the pie container.

"Thanks anyway guys, it's the thought that really counts." Makoto smiled and scooped a cherry with her finger.

"So how're ya feeling?" Naru asked, sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Better, the doctor said I can leave tomorrow morning." Makoto shifted in the bed and pulled up her blouse, exposing a long scab. "It healed really quickly."

Usagi glanced to Luna who was walking along the window sill and received a nod from the cat. "Well, that's good news."

"Hey, do you guys know someone named, Tuxedo Mask?" Makoto asked, looking around at the girls. "He was stealing jewels last night; I fought with him a bit."

"That guy in the tuxedo? Who wears the mask?" Naru asked exasperatedly.

Makoto chuckled. "The one and only."

"He was there that night I got attacked too! He and Warrior Moon saved me!" Naru placed a hand on Usagi's arm while she spoke.

"You said he was stealing jewels?" Usagi asked with raised eyebrows.

"Maybe he's not a good guy then..." Naru added in a softer voice.

"He said he wasn't my enemy and Mina agreed, she said I shouldn't worry about him and that he's harmless."

"Well, then I trust Mina!" Usagi stated and hopped to her feet. "We should probably get going Naru and let Mako get her rest." Usagi said and eyed the rest of the pie.

"I think I'm gonna stay a little longer, I'll see you at school."

Usagi collected Luna and said her good-byes before heading home. Although most of the walk home was filled with only silence, Usagi had a question she was dying to ask. The closer they were to home the most urgent it became.

"Soooo... What do _you _know about Tuxedo Mask?" Her thoughts erupted from her mouth.

"Not much." Luna responded, trotting beside the girl as she walked. "At this point the Guard has tunnel vision and is only focused on the Dark Kingdom."

"Oh." she pouted. "So maybe he is really just a jewel thief."

"Maybe." Luna retorted dryly. "You said that's why he was at OSA-P."

"Yeah, but if he got what he wanted, why come back to save me?"

"Save you? Don't be so vain Usagi..."

"Well he did, didn't he?" Usagi muttered and touched her fingers together.

"Why don't you ask him the next time he comes to the rescue?"

"Maybe I will!"

* * *

"Jadeite." Beryl called out, the man hadn't made a sound upon entering the room but she could sense his presence.

"Yes my Queen?"

"Time and time again I put up with your failures..." Her voice trailed off as her hands glided around the murky orb in front of her. Her cold eyes glanced up to take in the man who was kneeling.

"I apologize my Queen; I assumed our radio hoax would be enough to keep the Cosmic Warriors preoccupied. However, I was unaware they had awakened another one of them." Jadeite slowly rose to his feet, feeling lightheaded as he stood tall.

"They grow stronger and you continue to whittle down our forces with your half-baked plans." Beryl shifted in her seat before casting Jadeite a deadly glare. "I'm reluctant to ask, but what have you got planned next?"

"I'm going to destroy Tokyo."

Beryl's eyes narrowed themselves and she laced her fingers in front of her lips. "Continue."

"I'm planning a large attack on the city, designed to split the Warriors up from the Guard. I will be participating in this as well, using Kunzite's invention my Queen."

"The suit?"

"Yes, I received word they had been completed and are done with their test phases." Jadeite straightened himself up again. "I think this would be the perfect time to use mine."

Beryl hummed, nodding her head at him gently before ghosting a hand over her orb. She began to swirl her hand over it, like she was digging for a prize in a bucket before plunging her arm into the orb. Deeper and deeper she dug until she was up to her elbow, Jadeite watched in awe as she pulled back, holding a small red V pendant. "This is will summon your suit to you."

Holding her hand out the pendant floated through the open side and pinned itself onto Jadeite's uniform. "Do not fail me."

* * *

End of Chapter Eleven

* * *

Next, when their home comes under attack the Warriors, along with the Protectors, must split up to tackle the newest enemy threat. With Jadeite's illness threatening his life and Beryl's trust in him wavering, what lengths will he go to prove himself? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Twelve - ****The Battle for Tokyo**


	12. The Battle for Tokyo

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about.

**Note: **So far chapters twelve and thirteen have been my overall favorites. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. Also, it would appear my beta isn't able to check over my chapters any more, so from here on out these chapters haven't been beta'd. If you find a typo or something worth mentioning please bring it to my attention. I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday if you celebrate it!

**Review Notes: -** **avesiji: **Thanks for the feedback, I'll keep it in mind when writing future fights. Glad you enjoyed the brief cute moment.

**- ****DonovanX: **I really don't have Ami's future planned out, so we'll see.

**- LoveInTheBattlefield:** Thanks for the continuous support.

**- pierce-abbie99: **Glad you like them.

* * *

**CHAPTER TWELVE - The Battle for Tokyo**

* * *

**Friday, October 2nd**

By the end of the week Warrior Venus and Jupiter had taken down several small time Youma with ease. Makoto had gotten the full formal introduction to the Guard and learned more about her own abilities as well as the history of the Silver Millennium, and the dark force that destroyed it.

Usagi had managed put in three or four hours of studying with Ami every night, and it paid off. When she was handed her algebra test with a C- on it she couldn't help but to squeeze the blue-haired girl until she was gasping for air.

To celebrate Usagi's grade, she along with Makoto, Naru, Ami, and Luna headed to the Game Center Crown for the day.

Usagi squealed before she pressed her lips to the quiz. "I can't believe this!" she cried as she held her test high in the air, praising it as she strolled through the entrance.

"Enjoy it, you earned it." Makoto nudged her as she looked around for Motoki.

"See what happens when you apply yourself?" Luna reminded. Throughout all her bellyaching about not trusting Ami she was beginning to warm up to the girl. After a week snooping around the apartment she'd found nothing suspicious to link Ami and the Dark Kingdom together.

"I wonder what my mom will say when she sees this!" Usagi kissed the test again and hugged it close, meanwhile in the back of the group Ami and Naru giggled at the overzealous blond.

The girls spent several hours in the arcade, mashing buttons and trying to beat each other's high scores and to everyone's surprise Ami was a natural at just about every game. To Usagi and Mako's delight Motoki had in fact returned to work after his absence, giving the girls a story about taking care of a relative.

The gang kept the fun going by ordering continuous rounds of smoothies and dressing each other in their winning tickets from the games. They even managed to form a small tournament for the Sailor V game, to which Makoto came out the victor.

"I don't think I've had this much fun a while." Ami said softly as they exited the arcade.

"Same here." Usagi said with a chuckle as she rubbed her cheeks, after a day of smiling and laughing they were becoming stiff.

"We should all get together tomorrow for breakfast." Makoto suggested but upon seeing the looks from everyone else she quickly backtracked. "Or... Lunch?"

The girls exchanged silent looks before Usagi burst out in laughter again; the infectious cackle caused the others to join in as well. Even Luna found herself enjoying the time she spent with the girls.

As the wind brushing through the city picked up it carried with it the sound of the girl's laughter, by the time it reached the roof of the arcade it was nothing but din to the man standing there.

With cold eyes Jadeite stared out across the city, the lights reflected poorly in his dull violet eyes. With one foot pressed against the roof edge he leaned forward on his thigh, staring intently into the distance.

Slowly, he raised one gloved hand and on his sides he felt large rushes of wind. Without looking he knew they were all in position. Six of them in total, three on each side. He gently touched a hand to his pendant before dropping his other, the signal they had been waiting for. Colours lit up around him as the six of them tore away from the building, ripping through the sky like rockets and leaving behind luminous trails of light.

"What is that?!" Ami screamed, pointing to the sky were a vibrant red streak was flying through the early evening sky.

"They're everywhere!" Naru exclaimed, moving out closer to the street to see five other lines flying in opposite directions, one was blue, another green, one white, one orange, and the final was harder to make out until it passed over the moon; a thick streak of black cutting through the sky like a bullet.

"Luna..." Usagi said worriedly and the woman nodded to her as she pulled out her phone, only for it to ring in her hands before she could open it.

"Usagi, what's happening?" Naru asked as she rushed to her friend. In the distance she could hear people clamoring as they stormed the streets to see what the lights were as well.

"I wish I knew, but you and Ami should get someplace safe okay?" Usagi whispered as she looked back to the girl, she was still looking at the sky trying to figure out what was happening.

"Is this Warrior business?!" Naru asked excitedly.

"Why do you sound so happy?" Usagi slapped hands onto her hips and frowned at her.

"Sorry," Naru embraced Usagi in a tight hug. "I'll take her home with me okay?"

"No!"

"What?"

"They've been there before Naru... And I don't want you in danger. You take Ami and your mom to my house okay?" Usagi felt herself panicking, she wasn't even sure what was happening but it give her the same feeling of encroaching doom like Diarmuid did.

"Okay!" Naru nodded back to Usagi several times before she grabbed hold of Ami and began to pull her away from the group. "Don't worry about it; they're just shooting stars, now c'mon!"

"Mako!" Usagi whined, grabbing her friend's arms for support as she felt her legs getting weak.

"It's okay; we'll deal with whatever it is okay?" she assured.

In the sky the lights had almost vanished from sight, but the trails of smoke they left behind were clear indicators of where they'd been. Luna turned back to the girls, holding her phone out. Through the device they could hear some static and shuffling before Artemis' voice came through loud and clear.

"These things that are in the sky... We have no clue what they-"

Through the phone came the sound of an explosion, followed a mesh of screams. Luna clutched the phone and screamed into it before another explosion went off, louder than the first.

Usagi stared wide eye'd at the phone before an explosion close to the arcade went off. A gust of wind threatened to knock Usagi over and the windows of nearby shops shattered, spraying the streets with glass. As the initial sound of the explosion dimmed it was soon followed by several more. The sound of car alarms, breaking glass and screams filled the streets as the last of the blasts died away.

"What the hell was that? It sounded like a bomb!" Makoto shouted.

"Artemis!" Luna shouted into the phone.

"I'm here – I'm fine! Several of those lights have touched down on land, five of them to be exact!" Usagi looked to Luna who only stared at the phone. "They're scattered about the city, the Guard is formulating a plan now. The good news is they seem to be far away from the heavy populated areas."

Usagi felt a weight lift off her shoulders at that and through the phone came Mani's voice. "Girls, are you listening?"

"Yes." The Warriors answered in unison.

"Good, we'll need your help with this; I want you to split up and find these things and handle it. I'll be sending Protectors as well as the SAT as backup."

"But there are only two of us here, what about Mina?" Usagi asked, wringing her sweaty hands together.

"I've been here at headquarters all afternoon!" Minako shouted through the phone. "I'm heading to where the green light landed now!"

"Some of the Protectors will be heading to another location and you two are to find the rest. We'll be tracking your movements and having Protectors circle the city until you come in contact with the site, at that point they'll join up with you." Mani finished before Luna closed the phone and slipped it away.

Luna ran across the street and unlocked a car through its already shattered window. "Get in!" The girls filed into the backseat while Luna fiddled with something near the steering wheel until the engine came to life.

"Luna, question." Usagi said meekly, buckling up before Luna floored it and sent the car squealing off down the street. "What if those lights weren't anything suspicious you know? I mean, could we be overreacting?" she looked to Makoto for backup but the girl was busy watching the sky.

"This has happened before." Luna replied in a grave voice. "During the Silver Millennium, thick streaks of colours tore through the sky. I thought it was benign and choose not to act as quickly as I should have in an emergency situation." Luna raced through the streets, heading further and further away from the center of the city.

"By the time we had figured out what was happening it was all too late... Underestimating them is my only regret, and that day, that day was the worst I've ever had." With a harsh turn on the wheel the car made a sharp down down a wide alleyway. "They destroyed everything, and the Queen sacrificed herself to fix _my _mistake!"

"Luna..." Usagi scooted up in her seat, wanting to comfort the woman, but was quickly thrown aside as the car veered out of the alley.

Luna sniffled and glanced up to the sky, in the near distance there was an aura of a blue light with a trail of smoke. "This is it. We're close to one, who wants to take it?"

"I will!" Makoto announced before Usagi could even think about it. "Just tell me when Luna, I'll roll out." The girl placed her hand on the door handle.

"The target seems to be in the middle of the park, I don't see any roads leading directly to it so you'll have to head there on foot. I can't risk taking you the whole way, it would take up too much time." Luna floored it again, sending the engine into a fit as the car flew down the street before she slowed it a bit. "Get ready."

"Good luck Mako." Muttered Usagi as Luna slowed the car down more. All she saw was the girl's smile before the car door was thrown open and Makoto rolled out. She then disappeared in a brilliant flash of white and as Luna sped the car up again Usagi could see her green suit dashing through a wall of trees across the street. Scooting across the seat Usagi yanked the door shut and slumped against it as Luna took off down another street.

"Venus is at the green light. Jupiter, blue..." Luna said. "A handful of Protectors are heading for the light that landed furthest away, and the red one is the next closest. That's yours Usagi."

The girl nodded quietly and clutched her moon charm. "So you and Artemis will take care of the last one?"

"Yes." Luna made another sharp turn and Usagi was thrown against the seat with a shriek. Luna glanced at the girl in the rearview mirror and smiled.

* * *

Near the outer boundaries of the city lay a small neighborhood with most houses abandoned or rundown. That's where Warrior Venus found her green light that had crashed into one of the yards. It had created a crater in a yard and the impact had blown out the windows nearby and knocked over a few remaining cars.

Venus approached the crater and glanced down into it, standing within was a woman with long black hair that reached down to her waist, with a large part on her scalp. "Hello, down there." Venus said.

The woman looked up to her with a smile before she began to crawl out of the crater. Venus kept her distance as the woman emerged. "Hello." A woman said, standing tall now dressed a long black dress that covered her chest, arms, and even feet.

"Who are you?" Venus asked. "Or maybe the better question is, what are you?"

"I am Arane, of the Sound Six." Arane raised a hand to her lips and flicked her tongue across her fingers before pulling her hand away. From the tips of her fingers to her mouth were four thin white strings. Venus' eyes darted to her other hand in which she held a bow. Arane then raised the bow and dragged it across the strings like a violin. From the ground thick vines began to emerge before they wrapped around the woman's legs.

Arane opened her hooded eyes slightly and began to run her bow across the strings, a low sound emitting from them before the vines around her legs spread out, heading for Venus.

She gave a small shriek and held her disc out as all of the vines came together to form one thick root. Against the disc she felt the force crash against it and almost knock her off her feet. Venus quickly dropped the disc and spun around to the side, breaking it apart and slicing through the vines.

Arane played another short series of notes before the ground around Venus began to rumble, through the dirt she could see thick roots rising up before they pierced through the earth at her. Venus leapt into the air, but before she could attack a thin vine wrapped around her midsection and hurled her back to the ground.

She hit hard and rolled across the front yard of someone's yard before she slowed to a stop. "Ouch..." Slowly she pushed herself up but was forced off the ground as a thick tree root slammed into her side, sending her flying through the air.

She squealed until more vines wrapped around her, this time ensnaring her wrists and ankles. Soon she was yanked out of the sky and slammed onto the ground. Hitting hard she felt as if the wind had been forced out of her as the vines tightened their grip and retracted into the ground.

"Gah!" Venus huffed as she tried to tear out of the vines restricting her. However she froze hearing the woman start playing again. She waited for something to happen, but the notes only continued to come, stringing together to form one dark chord. "Let me go!" She flailed and struggled to make any headway before a small seedling emerged to her right.

Through her mask she stared at the small two-leafed plant before it rose out of the ground and revealed itself to be connected to a long branch. Venus struggled harder until she felt the ground under her burst open and something thick press against her back. "No!" Soon she was lifted off the ground and around her, thick branches and what looked like tree trunks began to rise out of the ground.

From behind her bushels of leaves began to grow and she could hear the cracking sound of wood under her as she rose higher and higher. The vines around her wrist shrunk away but were replaced by wide curled branches.

Ahead of her the tree branches shifted and parted, exposing Arane who was lifted off the ground by a thick collection of vines, now wrapped around her waist.

"I've captured you." she said softly.

"Just wait until I break out of here!" Venus cried, struggling to pull herself free.

"Not even you are that strong." Arane said again before running the bow across the strings, creating a high-pitched note. From around Venus branches emerged and began to run around each other, forming a spiral with a sharp wooden point.

"No..." Venus muttered and began to twist and pull on her arms. "No!"

"Do you fear death?" Arane asked sweetly, making Venus stop her struggle. "Don't worry; your body will become nutrients to help nature when you die."

Venus let out a soft whimper before Arane went back to playing and the drill-like roots moved in closer towards Venus' body.

Straining to move her arm even a little Venus stretched her hand out and quickly gathered energy in it, quickly taking the shape of her heart disc. Arane's eyes opened and her playing on the strings quickened as Venus gripped the back of the disc.

"Venus' Raining Shot of Love!" With little force Venus tossed the disc upwards, it barely passing through the tree top before orange flashes of light came crashing down towards them both. Venus clamped her eyes shut as she felt the burning heat graze her legs and arms before the roots holding her still were blasted away.

"Yes!" She huffed and dropped, grabbing onto several branches before she hit the ground to slow her fall. Once she hit she threw her hand out, recalling her disc, and sprinted away towards the house.

At the front step she kicked in the door, slamming it behind her, and made a beeline for staircase. Once she reached the top she threw herself at one of the windows and glanced around the yard for any sign of her.

"Coast's clear for-" Behind her mask her eyes went wide at what was outside, at what she had just escaped from.

It was a tree, a gigantic one compared to the others in the the other yards. It was far taller than the house with a trunk as thick as a car. From the base of the tree she spotted long roots inching towards the house. At that she moved off down the hallway and glanced into the rooms.

"Home alone, perfect." she breathed, observing her surroundings once more.

After a few minutes of silence the sound of the door being thrown off its hinges alerted her that Arane had made her way inside. Venus tossed her disc up; it quickly became surrounded in an orange light and sliced through the ceiling and roof with ease.

Down the hall she watched as vines crept along the floor and then spread, covering the walls and soon the ceiling as if announcing her arrival.

Venus readied herself as Arane gingerly made her way up the stairs, bow positioned above the strings before she dragged it across, making a screeching chord.

From behind her three vines shot at Venus. The Warrior flipped over to the right to avoid them, but found herself being pursued and continued to dodged all the way down the hall. Venus ducked as one of them struck near her head and crashed through the wall.

Slipping into the room behind her she slammed the door but only managed to hold them off for a moment before the vines shot through the thin wood.

Venus thrust her hand into the air before dropping it down, from the ceiling came her disc that sliced through the vines. Hitting the floor the severed ends flailed around as the rest pulled back through the door.

"That's more like it!" Venus raised her hand again, sending the disc back through the ceiling as she surveyed the room.

It was a bathroom, small, white, and clean. To her right was a sink with various items on it she didn't give time to see what they were. Next to that the toilet and behind her was the shower. Instinctively she yanked on the curtains and the rod holding them up came clattering down. In the hall she could hear Arane playing again.

While Venus began to tear the curtains off the rod she occasionally glanced back to the punctured door. Getting a feel for the weight of the shower rod she spun it around before clutching it with both hands and waiting for Arane to appear.

Suddenly three more vines shot through the holes in the door. Venus prepared herself to attack, but instead the vines slammed back again the door and slowly began to pull on it. Before long the door snapped in half and was yanked off the hinges, exposing the transformed hall to Venus.

She mouthed her shock as she took a slow step out into it. The walls, floor and ceiling were all covered in thick vines and roots. It looked as if the house had been overrun by plants for a century the way the lines lay coated on top of each other. Hearing a creaking in the wood, Venus raised the rod up, aimed at the end of the hall towards the staircase.

"I don't have time to play hide and seek anymore." Arane called out, shuffling into sight at the end of the hall. Venus stiffened and aimed the rod at her. "I see you have a new weapon; I hope it serves you better than the last."

Arane ran the bow across the rings which emitted a screeching sound; the vines on the walls came to life and shot inwards like spikes. Venus dropped to the ground and watched the rod be pierced by thin vines before she began to crawl back.

"Stay back!" she cried and Arane shuffled closer instead. Venus held a hand up, but before she could drop it a set of vines wrapped around her wrist. "Ahh!" she winced as pain as they tightened around it and Arane played a low chord another drill formed, this time from vines.

"Goodbye."

Venus grunted and dropped her hand before she felt something in her wrist pop, but from the ceiling emerged her disc that sliced down Arane from shoulder to waist. The woman let out a howl of pain and staggered back before Venus bawled her hand into a fist, spreading it out again a moment later. The disc now shot out and began to slice into her chest.

Arane collapsed back against the wall and Venus fell against the floor as the vines released her. Quickly she scrambled to her feet and recalled the disc. Holding it above her head she screamed before hurling it out towards Arane. In a flash of light the disc sliced through the wall of vines and across Arane's neck, spraying the opposite wall with her blood before her body collapsed.

After recalling her disc Venus made her way back through the house and stumbled outside, getting one final look at the tree Arane had made that was now attached to the house itself. The roots, branches, and vines from the tree had stretched and connected to the ground, covering the entire front of the house.

Slowly she looked off to the left, behind more houses was a thick collection of trees that didn't allow her to see any further. And with a deep breath Venus sprinted past the homes and towards the thicket.

* * *

After sprinting through the trees and entering a small park area, Warrior Jupiter paused for a breath in front of a small white fountain. Hunched over with her hands on her knees she took in deep gulps of the chilly night air.

"It's around here somewhere..." she muttered.

"I've been waiting for someone to approach me." From the fountain came a man's voice and the water began to bubble with his words.

Jupiter jumped back and held her fists out. Thin streaks of electricity ran around them as she prepared herself for whatever may come. "Who said that?"

"Me." From the center of the fountain came a thick stream of water that bubbled over to take the shape of a human torso. Jupiter stood in awe as the water changed colour, becoming a dusty white and a began to form a human. "I am Aquo." the man said calmly.

Jupiter's jaw fell as half of a man appeared before her, the rest of his body either rested within the fountain, or was simply the fountain itself.

From his waist up he appeared as a young and youthful looking man with a slender frame, he had long silver hair he kept tied in braid going down his back. Draped over his body were six saxophones that all converged into one mouthpiece. Curling his lips around it he blew into it and from the bells erupted bubbling streams of water.

"Water against my lightning? This couldn't be an easier battle!" Jupiter slammed a fist into her palm, sending a crack of thunder through the park.

With that Aquo blew into the mouthpiece and the surface of the fountain water began to dance, soon rising and bubbling over the edge. Jupiter narrowed her eyes as the water began to take human form.

Swiftly she leapt away from the water dummies as they began to charge her, one after another. No sooner had she started to dodge wide swings and jabs as the dummies formed limbs did a wave of water rise up in the distance. Jupiter spared it a glance before she tore off from her spot. She needed to get to high ground.

Jupiter listened to the splashing of the dummies footsteps as they aggressively trotted after her before she found two trees, growing close to each other. Leaping from the ground she pressed a foot against the first and propelled herself off towards the next. Looping her arms around one of the branches Jupiter let out a grunt as the rest of her body slammed into the truck.

At the base the dummies had circled the tree; the wave had died down but had flooded the park. The pavement looked like a rippling mirror while the grassy areas were becoming like a marsh. Fighting with lightning was the best choice, but not if she put herself at risk of being shocked in the process.

"Wait..." Jupiter rubbed a hand against her stomach, against her suit. "I'm banking on this to be made of rubber!" Taking a deep breath Jupiter leapt from the tree, splashing as she rolled across the ground before breaking into a sprint towards Aquo.

Around her she could see the dummies moving effortless across the surface, they had merged with it. While evading swift punches and jabs from both sides Jupiter pressed on towards Aquo, the man watched her race for him with hooded eyes before belting out a low note.

From the water around him formed the head of a dragon with blinding yellow eyes. The beast roared at the Warrior, making fast ripples across the water and causing the dummies to burst. Instinctively Jupiter crossed her arms over her face, fearing an unseen force was to follow its massive roar.

"Heh." Aquo huffed before blowing into the piece. His notes were strung together and flew up and down the scale in a matter of seconds before a large wave rose beyond him.

Jupiter took a step back as the wave continued to grow, rising higher than any of the tree tops and the dragon's head too grew larger. "What kind of power is this?" she muttered.

Before running his fingers over the keys on his instruments Aquo let out a roar that the dragon mimicked as it crashed down onto the ground at Jupiter.

She barely flinched as the masses of water arrived, crashing across the ground with tremendous force. Jupiter took off again, heading back to the tree she had just left. She knew out running the wave was foolish, but it wouldn't reach her if she could elevate herself.

She gritted her teeth as the waves hit, the force knock her from her stance and she instantly tried to hold onto the tree limbs that she landed on. She snapped her eyes shut as the dragon hit, colliding against the base of the tree. Upon impact Jupiter felt the rough tree limbs get ripped from her grasp and her body slipping, only for the sound of a crack to overwhelm her senses.

The clarion noise Jupiter soon recognized to be the truck snapping in half only grew louder before she was on the ground again, rolling away from the tree that had been ripped from its roots.

Suddenly she felt the dark presence coming from behind her. Jupiter turned and stared up at the towering figure of Aquo.

"You move too slow Warrior."

Jupiter snarled and positioned her feet under her to propel upwards, throwing a fist out as she did but the blow never landed. Around her gauntlet formed a vortex of water, the force behind which she could feel pushing her hand back. She watched as Aquo began to play again, his boney fingers jittering over the bodies of the instruments.

With some strain Jupiter forcefully extended her fingers and snapped them back in, the expanding vortex around her instantly lit up as a thin streaks of lightning passed through it, before shattering, raining down on the duo.

Aquo glared at the girl before his eyes darted to her extended hand, crackling with electricity. He could feel the fierce power leaking from the girl and suddenly feared she would do something drastic to destroy him. He began to retaliate with determination and began to play notes at the higher end of the staff, making gangly water dummies rise around the Warrior.

This new found aggression startled Jupiter and she began to dodge the rapid blows from the water clones, with a large flip backwards she had managed put some distance between them. But in her mind she knew with the entire field covered in water she might as well be standing on top of her enemy.

Aquo played a series of fast and short notes and the clones tore off from their spot to Jupiter. The girl jumped up and quickly brought a heel down onto the first that approached. Instantly she flipped over, bashing another in what she deemed its head.

Both of the clones burst into heaps of water that only added to the field. Watching more clones charge in for her Jupiter thrust a fist into the sky, a thin streak of lightning striking her gauntlet before she threw it out to them. As expected it pierced through them, and the bolt continued to fly out, heading for Aquo.

The man's fingers moved across the instruments easily as the bolt pierced his chest, only for his body to turn into a mass of water and splash down like the others.

"Damn!"

Jupiter barely had time to react before she looked behind her, and there again was Aquo. Without thinking she slammed a foot onto the edge of the fountain and propelled herself into the air. Her hands flashed in front of her before meeting above her head in a clasped embrace. Her descent was a blur as she felt the power concentrate in her fists.

"Savage Thunder!"

It was when she felt the impact she knew where she was again, on the ground in front of Aquo. Her hands had busted through the edge of the fountain, now spilling over with water and before she could see his face a thick bolt of lightning struck him.

She closed her eyes in determination as the resounding shockwave tested her strength. Jupiter held her ground, albeit she slid back as the force blared through the park.

Slowly Jupiter opened her eyes to survey the damage she'd done. Aquo was hunched over in the fountain, which was almost out of water, she could see where exactly his body connected with it and the steaming burn marks covering his dermis.

A rumbling above her in the skies caught her attention and through the heavy clouds she could see the occasional streak of lightning in the sky. Hearing a soft patter around her she glanced to her suit, small water droplets were beginning to cover it.

"Just what I need, more water..." She groaned rising to her feet and taking a few steps back from him.

Aquo's head snapped back and the fountain glided across the water as he rushed to Jupiter who realized too late he was there. Spinning around within the fountain Aquo bombarded her with heavy waves of water, sending the girl flying back and tumbling across the ground.

Aquo's anger was nearly tangible as he threw his body back and continued to spin, the whips of water continuously slashing out at Jupiter and throwing her back each time she tried to rise.

With a quick scramble to her knees Jupiter charged a punch, hurling it to an incoming wave of water, the force behind it shattered the whip and left Aquo in dismay. Jupiter emitted a roar of fury and threw out another punch, static ran around her fist while the unseeable force buffeted Aquo.

"It seems master underestimated you Warriors, I can see why..." He slowly stopped his spinning, and ran his fingers along the instruments and thick streams of dark water began to spew from the bells.

"I don't have time to talk!" Jupiter raised her arms and crossed them over her chest, extending her index and pinky fingers on each hand. "My guardian Jupiter! Brew a storm! Call the clouds! Bring down the lightning!"

Aquo watched in silence before leaning in and charging for the girl, Jupiter threw her arms down at her side and sprinted in for him as well.

* * *

In the distance, Tuxedo Mask had been watching for a while now. Despite not being able to see the actual battle itself, he had seen the damage it was causing.

He trembled at the rumbling thunder that trampled through the clouds, and watched the downpour intensify over the park, and the thick bolts of lightning that stuck down.

* * *

On the empty highway streets the Youma Terra kept several Protectors busy.

She was an older woman with white hair that dragged on the ground when she walked with uneven cut bangs. She wore a dark purple cloak that only exposed her forearms. With her she carried a white staff that she kept dug into the concrete. The Protectors learned quickly the purpose of it when she pressed her lips to it and began to blow, manipulating the earth around her at will.

"So this granny is our only opponent?" Gesi asked incredulously.

"I expected more!" Desi cackled.

"Don't let your guard down." Mani chided as he landed on the overpass above the group. Behind him were several black vans. "She's proven herself to be more than she appears."

The Protectors had arrived only second to the police that foolishly tried to take on the woman. Their squad cars were now impaled by spires and their body smashed under thick slabs of rock. The once clear streets were now demolished; the woman was capable of tearing chunks of the pavement and rocks up in an instant. The streets were now littered with boulders and rubble, and a large ravine had been made when the woman continued to blow into the staff for a good minute.

"Of course." The twins agreed.

"Let's stop standing around shooting the breeze!" Jarilo roared and Mani glanced to him.

"Charging in without a plan won't accomplish anything." he reminded. "We need to find a way to subdue her long enough for one of us to land a fatal attack." Mani looked down at the motionless woman.

Standing in the center of the Protectors, Terra stood stoically with crossed arms. Although her eyes were closed she still observed their actions by their movements on the ground. Even positioned above her, she could read Mani's movements with ease.

"Whichever plan you attempt to execute will fail." Terra announced in a wizened voice, catching Mani's attention and making him furrow his brow. "This battle is child's play..." Terra leaned forward to the staff, her thin lips brushing against it as she spoke before she wrapped them around the mouthpiece and blew into the staff.

Jarilo readied himself as a rumbling under his feet started before a collection of spires forced themselves through the concrete at him. "Now!"

"Right!" The twins shouted before sprinting towards Terra, they each held their arms back, letting them flap wildly while they raced to her.

"Boom!" Desi shouted and swung her arm around and up, her cleaver forming in the process, before she slammed it onto the ground. The impact created a wave of energy that shot directly to Terra.

"Bolt!" Gesi clapped his hands together and pulled them apart, streaks of lightning running between his palms before his own cleaver formed between them as well. Without word his weapon was flung forward and stuck into the ground around Terra.

Terra gave a small huff into the staff and a dome of earth formed around her, clapping shut at the top.

"Dammit!" Desi shouted.

"Not over yet!" Gesi responded and slammed his hands together, from the skies came thick streaks of lightning that stuck his cleaver and danced across the street.

"Behind you!" Mani called out and threw his arm to Gesi who spun around to see Terra emerging from behind.

"She's quick..." He grunted and lunged to the side. His cleaver flew past him and to Terra who, with another huff, summoned a sheet of rock that intercepted the weapon.

"Your strikes are too weak." she sighed and gave another blow into the staff; dozens of sharp rocks shot out of the street and floated around her.

"How about mine?!" Jarilo shouted as he came down on Terra from above. The young Protector flipped over in the air and released several daggers from his hands at Terra.

The woman blew short, staccato, breaths into the pipe and circular sheets of rock emerged to block the daggers.

Upon landing Jarilo leaned forward onto his hands and swung one leg out, sending three daggers flying out to the woman.

"Too weak." Terra commented and shot pointed rocks at the daggers. Once she'd put a stop to his attacks she summoned more rocks that she sent flying out. Each of them soon slowed in the air and dropped to the ground to Terra's surprise. Through her hair she opened one eye to see Mani with an extended hand. "Four on one, isn't really fair."

"Too late to play the old lady card." Jarilo smiled before he charged her and flipped over in the air, several more daggers flying from his body at her.

"So be it." Terra puffed into the staff and two square pillars of stone shot out of the ground, one blocked the incoming blades while the other rammed itself into Jarilo's gut, sending the boy flying back.

"Now!" The twins shouted as they came from above, cleavers in their hands and landed on each side of Terra, swinging wildly at her only to have their blows deflected by sheets of rocks. With a continuous stream of air into the staff Terra forced them both back with spikes emerging from the sheets.

"Everyone, at the same time!" Mani directed, seeing Jarilo reach the ground safely. Focusing his eyes on Terra the earth around her began to crack, unable to stand the weight being abruptly forced on it.

"I understand now..." Terra mused as she struggled to more, feeling her body weigh more than any creature naturally should.

"Right!" The twins shouted, Gesi clapped his hands and between them appeared his cleaver that directed a current of lightning at Terra. Desi cut through the air with hers and a visible wave of energy flew towards the woman.

Jarilo clapped his hands before he spread his arms wide, revealing a collection of daggers that floated between his hands. Taking in a deep breath of air Jarilo blew air on the daggers that began spinning in the air before they caught fire. He watched as the twins cleared the area before he released his daggers, sending each of them spiraling towards the woman.

Terra gave the staff four short huffs of air and four angled walls emerged around her, protecting her in a pyramid of rock from the attacks.

"Second wave, attack!" Mani called out and from behind him emerged three other Protectors. Landing on the street below Kalla, Losna, and Iah stood tall as each of their weapons formed in their hands.

Kalla spun around a spear with a three-pronged blade at the top around before he held it it like a javelin, and hurled it out towards the woman.

With incredible speed Losna sprinted off towards the dome, running past the spear and leapt off a car, holding a double-sided ax over her head and came down in a spiral towards the tip of the dome.

As the spear stuck the side of the pyramid, creating a large crack in it, Losna came down hard on the top. The impact of her ax caused the top of it to chip off and sending a jagged crack racing down the side where it met with the crack Kalla had created. Meanwhile Iah stood atop of a car, bow and arrow aimed at the pyramid, waiting for it to fall.

"Fall back!" Mani called and Losna along with the twins quickly increased the distance between themselves and the crumbling rock. "Standby." Mani muttered to something on his jacket sleeve.

As the chunks of rock fell it revealed a small dome inside, slowly that too fell and Terra stood hunched over her staff. "Seven against one..." she said quietly before snickering. "Wars certainly have changed."

"Now." Mani spoke again to his sleeve and the doors of the vans flew open, out of which stormed SAT members, guns at the ready and upon reaching the railing for the overpass opened fire on Terra.

Bullets sprayed over the street until they all converged on one location. The woman summoned a thick wall of rock to protect her, but the gunfire proved to be unrelenting as more soldiers emerged from the vehicles.

Iah stood poised with his eye focused on the rock, looking for an opening. Slowly he turned his bow sideways and uncoiled his four other fingers, golden arrows forming on the bow a moment later.

Jarilo and Kalla watched as fragments of rock flew off of the chipping barrier she had. "Do you think she'll slip away again?" Jarilo asked.

"Not with the twins and Losna watching." Kalla answered, pointing to the three that had spread around around her. "They'll see if she does anything."

"Iah!" Mani shouted and the slender man nodded and began releasing his arrows, one at a time.

The golden ones flew out first, lodging themselves into the sheet of rock at each of the corners, but the last stuck into the center. Iah smiled before pressing a small button in the center of the bow, a beeping could be heard coming from it as well as from the arrows.

Behind the sheet of rock Terra's eyes opened as each of the arrows exploded, shattering her only defense. In the haze Terra struggled to bring up a new wall as the bullets flew past and through her body.

A splatter of blood shot from her mouth splashed against the staff she clung to as she began to fall. The rain of bullets continued on until Mani raised a flat hand and the soldiers held their fire. "She's down." he muttered.

Weakly she gripped the staff and struggled to stand tall before feeling something sharp pierce and lodge itself in her back. Craning her neck around she saw a small girl, Losna, yank her weapon from her back before chopping into it again.

"Wait – I can give you information!" she pleaded as Gesi sprinted in, slicing across her chest and spraying the road with her blood.

"You couldn't possibly tell us something we don't already know." Jarilo said quietly as he held a dagger over the woman's chest, sinking it down into her heart a moment later.

"Regroup everyone." Mani called out. "Our work tonight is not yet done!"

* * *

Barely managing to stay aloft, Jadeite's blood drenched hand dropped from his mouth and several dark red drips of blood fell to the earth far below him. As he exhaled heavily, a familiar energy became present behind him. From the corner of his eye Zoisite rested in an invisible chair and floated behind him.

"What a mess you've made." Zoisite snickered looking down into the chaotic city. From the sky he could see pile-ups and fires starting in some areas. In others, the energy of the Warriors and Youma fighting was strong.

"Why are you here?" Jadeite asked still struggling to stay in the air.

"Wanted to watch the show." Zoisite answered. "I also have something I'd like to propose."

Jadeite wavered and turned, waving a hand at him. "Get out of here."

"Hear me out first." Zoisite smiled. "I've been working on a little project, a new way to create Experiments."

Jadeite's eyes filled with rage at the mention of it. "How dare you mettle in MY operation! Experiments were my idea! You should thankful I even allowed you to set foot in the laboratories."

"Yes, yes we're all quite thankful for your contributions..." Zoisite said and wiped a speck of blood off his cheek. "However your way of doing things is – limited."

"Limited." Jadeite scoffed. "Have I not revived numerous heroes without fail?"

"You have, but only a handful of them have been able to hold a candle to the Warriors. Besides, what if I wanted someone revived and there was so DNA to gather?"

"Then you need to find someone else to revive." Jadeite replied coldly. The absence of DNA was one of the biggest hurdles he had to cross in the beginning. It narrowed down the possibilities of who could be summoned greatly.

"Or we come up with a new way to summon them." Zoisite reminded.

"LEAVE ZOISITE!" Jadeite bayed before he hunched over, spewing blood into his hand.

"I take it Queen Beryl isn't aware of your disease." Zoisite spoke quietly as his eyes surveyed the man.

"Mind your business." Jadeite growled.

"I don't suggest using your suit Jadeite; it takes quite a lot of energy and power. Something you seem to be lacking at the moment." Zoisite spoke in a heavy mocking tone.

"The day I listen to advice from a..." Jadeite trailed off, feeling his legs go weak and his vision blur. He stumbled forward slightly only to regain his composure a moment later. "Leave me Zoisite." he demanded.

"I'll be around to collect the body of the Warriors, the Youma or your own corpse. Whichever turns up first." He said as he gave him one last look over. "Don't die Jadeite, I'd like to continue this conversation another time." Slowly his body vanished in a whirl of flower petals.

Jadeite turned to look down below, smoke billowing up from the city made him smile and as he clutched his chest. "Almost time to make my appearance."

* * *

From the backseat Usagi watched lightning strike down in the far distance and began to wring her hands together. "I hope everyone is doing okay..." she groaned.

Luna had taken the backstreets as the main roads were becoming crowded with people fleeing from areas where the lights had struck.

"It'll be okay Usagi."

"You think so?"

Luna nodded before catching a glimpse of a steady stream of smoke off in the distance "We're really close." she said before a tremendous force rammed the car.

The force sprayed shattered glass over the occupants in the car and sent the black vehicle spinning. The out of control car spiraled across the street before it slammed into a guard rail fixed on the edge of the street, overlooking the park cliff. Unable to stop the car, the railing merely split apart as the car ripped through it before flipping over numerous times as it flew through the air.

When it finally landed, on the side of the cliff, the car let out a low groan as the metal bent, and it tilted to the side before rolling down the cliff. Inside, its occupants were thrown in each direction before the now totalled machine crashed down at the bottom on its side.

* * *

End of Chapter Twelve**  
**

* * *

Next, Warrior Moon is on her own against two mysterious enemies, but when backup arrives will they be able to defeat them? And when their greatest enemy so far enters the fray, will the Cosmic Warriors be strong enough to defeat him? In the wake of the attack a new Shitennou appears, what is Nephrite's objective? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Thirteen - Providential Power**


	13. Providential Power

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about.

**Note:** Guess who fell asleep after school and forgot to upload last week's chapter? **Me.  
**BelieveInUs and myself worked on a short Sailor Moon poem entitled _Every Me, Every You._ Check it out if you like poetry or Haruka&Michiru: _s/9177445/1/Every-Me-Every-You_

**Review Notes - Lunary: **Glad you liked it.

**-DonovanX: **I had fun creating moves, powers, and weapons for the Protectors, glad you enjoyed their fight.

**-avesiji: **Thanks, this chapter will be mostly action as well. :)

**-pierce-abbie99: **Hope the wait wasn't too long.

**-Guest: **The clock is probably as subtle as an episode plot has gotten so far.

* * *

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN - Providential Power**

* * *

As the black car lay tippled on its side its two passengers lay limp against their respective doors. The car's horn was blaring loudly through the park it had landed in. As the passenger hunched over in the backseat awoke, the horn was all she could hear, save for the pounding radiating through her head.

Slowly she moved her right leg. Then left, both arms, head, everything seemed to be in place, and nothing hurt _too _bad. She moved around in the seat slightly, knocking fragments of broken glass off her leg as she tried to sit up.

"Good thing for this..." She said quietly, tapping her mask. Upon impact she instantly transformed and she could only imagine what might have happened if her mask hadn't absorbed some of the impact.

Hearing a shifting in the front seat Warrior Moon struggled to pull herself up to check on Luna. There she was, laying limp and restrained in her seatbelt. From what she could see she didn't seem to be hurt that much, some cuts on her arms and face.

"Are they dead?"

Moon's eyes went wide. Over top of the horn she heard someone from outside the car speak. She eased back into her seat and listened to her heart pound in her chest now. Faintly she could hear footsteps circling the car, they crunched in the hard dirt around them and snapped twigs in half.

She felt her bottom lip quiver and the urge to cry burn her eyes. Biting onto her lip she forced down the terrified feeling she had, like death itself was clawing at the back of her neck.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

Moon stiffened as someone's hand rapped against the roof of the car. Her eyes darted to her hand, she needed her lance, but could she summon it without drawing attention to herself? And would it be any use inside the small car?

In the front seat there was a soft rustle, Moon quivered fearing Luna would alert whoever was outside. Slowly she adjusted herself squatting against the door and looked directly up through the hole where the other backseat window used to be. All that ran through her mind told her she needed to get them away from Luna at all costs.

"I'll come back Luna..." She mouthed as tears spilled from down her cheeks. Before she changed her mind, she gripped the edges of the window and threw herself out. She expected it to be a smooth transition; however, her foot caught on the door and she flopped down onto the ground outside with a soft thud.

"What was that?" A woman hissed with an airy voice. Moon rolled over and scampered off to the back of the car and hugged her knees.

"What'd you hear?" The same voice as before, a man's, deep and tender.

"I heard something hit the ground."

Off to the right Moon could hear footsteps coming close, the crunch on the ground was louder now.

"Check inside the car." The man commanded and she heard the weight of the vehicle shift, the entire car was pulled back down onto the ground with all four wheels touching. Moon shuddered at the strength of whoever she was hiding from; she started to bite onto her lip so hard, to avoid bawling, she tasted blood.

"There's a chick inside, she's out cold." The man said again, this time his voice was on her left and to the right she heard the steps.

"Who is she?" The woman asked and Moon listened to the sound of a busted car door swing open.

"How the hell should I know?" He barked back and Moon slid her hand under the car. A moment later a bright blue light erupted from under it. "What the hell was that?!"

"How the hell should I know?" The woman mimicked.

"Very funny Eson, check around back will, 'ya?" He said harshly, and once she heard the footsteps coming closer Moon knew it was time to act. Giving herself one great push off the ground, Moon threw herself forward and spun around.

"Moon Blade Slash!"

It happened so fast she barely saw it, the disc cleaved the top of the car off and both the man and woman beside it ducked to avoid having their heads lopped off. Moon froze for a moment, feeling a new kind of energy fill her body as the two near the car stood tall again.

"You see that?! We almost got decapitated!" The man barked, approaching Moon with wide steps.

"If we died from something like that then perhaps we deserved it!" Eson cackled. "Come here dearie, we just want to play."

Moon felt an uneasy tremble in her gut before she tore off from the spot, sprinting away from the car, and sure enough the two were hot on her trail.

"She's on the run!" The man yelled. He was slower than the girl who was closer to Moon than she would have liked. She felt a squeak of fear escape from her lips as the woman's hand grazed her suit.

"Come here!" Eson rasped and reached out for her again, this time her hand caught into Moon's hair that was pinned at the top of her head. Moon whined as she was yanked back, feeling some of her hair being torn from its roots. "I got her!"

"Nice work!" The man came up beside them, clapping loudly for the girl's catch. "Well, let's have a look at what your prize is." He soon squatted down next to her, resting his arms on his knees and stared deep into her mask.

Moon could tell he was tall and lean-built, and even in the pale moonlight there was no denying his tan skin and vibrant red eyes. His hair was messy and fiery red with strands framing the sides of the face and hanging between his eyes. He wore a large grey tunic and matching shorts with some dark patches on them. Behind his back Moon would see two long black sticks that seemed to be attached to some sort of holster.

In the woman's grasp Moon struggled to free herself, only to be yanked back harder each time. Eson was unrelenting and each tug forced more tears from her eyes until she finally began to cry and scream to be released.

"Loud one ain't she?" He said, rubbing his ears as he reached for her. Moon shook her head and tried to push back against Eson to avoid having him reach the mask.

As the man's thick fingers grazed the mask, the sound of a squeaky car door interrupted his focus. Moon struggled to turn her head enough, but she already knew what was making the noise. From the corner of the mask slit Moon could see Luna falling out of the car into a heap on the ground.

"We got a live one!" The man howled and pushed off from the ground.

"NO!" Moon cried out before being yanked back by Eson.

"Be quiet." she demanded.

By the time Luna had come to grips on what happened and stand, the man had already reached her. Moon watched him reach behind his back for one of the sticks and bring it down towards Luna. Her cry for him to stop was cancelled out by the explosion of heat and fire that erupted when the man brought the stick down.

The fire was so intense Moon felt the heat penetrate her suit and dry the tears running down her face in one swoop. Behind her the woman snickered with pride before dropping Moon down and cheering for the man.

She couldn't see what had happened, but on the ground she could spot Luna and there was someone standing over her. Taking advantage of the freedom, Moon rolled over slowly and fresh tears were brought to her eyes to see a man dressed in a tuxedo holding back the attacker.

"Tuxedo Mask." Moon whispered happily and Eson glared down at her before she snatched up her hair again.

"What did you just say?!"

"Can you stand?" Mask asked before he slid the handle of his cane out, revealing the blade within and slashed at the man.

"Y – Yes..." Luna shuddered, slowly rising to her feet.

"Then I need you to get away from here, I can't protect both of you." He turned to glance at her and with wide eyes Luna nodded and began to hobble off in front of the car. "The Guard is coming, head east and you'll meet up with a squad."

Luna understood and picked up her pace and as she started up the hill before a dense force blasted the ground in front of her. She never saw what it was, but it had enough force to destroy a chunk of the hill and send her tumbling back down.

"Luna!" Moon cried out. She knew Eson was responsible, she just wasn't sure how.

"You've done it now boy." The man snarled to Mask and twirled the black stick around in his hand before drawing the second.

"Get him Blaise!"

Mask raised a playful eyebrow before replacing the sword into the sheath and at the end of the cane five red darts jutted out. At their current range there was no doubt they'd all stab deep into him. The man raised his arms high and with a roar he slammed the sticks down onto the ground, around him formed an intense ring of fire, the heat again reached Moon. Mask flipped back over the car and landed beside Luna, helping her to her feet.

"We've got to get away from the car." Mask looked up to the road as the sound a small engine came in close. At the top of the hill was a small black sports car and from the driver's side emerged Artemis. He leapt down the hill and stopped at Mask's side, scooping Luna into his arms.

"What happened?!" He observed her body, taking notice of all the scratches and cuts. "I saw your locator went offline, I came to the last place it was active!"

"Artemis!" Moon cried out again, wishing desperately for someone to save her. As she began to squirm, Eson yanked back on her, reminding her to remain still.

"Tuxedo Mask.." Artemis breathed harshly. "What is this?"

"No time to explain, we've got a hot head on our hands." Mask directed his attention to the wall of fire that was beginning to die down. Soon Blaise leapt onto the hood of the car and emitted a deafening roar at the trio.

"Take care of Warrior Moon." Artemis commanded shooing him off as he and Luna stood tall. Mask nodded to them both before rushing off away from the area and charging for Eson. Gripping his cane by the handle he swung it out at her, the sheath coming loose and flying at her.

"Nice try!" She effortlessly swatted it away but gasped seeing Mask charge for her with a blade at his side. Eson released Moon and cupped her hands to her ears before a hair-raising scream blasted through the area. It forced Mask back before he was slammed against the car.

Realizing she was free again Moon began to roll, she didn't pay attention to where, she just tucked her arms in and rolled away. When she heard Eson's scream of distress that she'd lost control of her she knew she was far enough and staggered to her feet.

"Nice move, but what can you do without this?!" Eson was holding her lance and swinging it around like a toy. From this distance Moon could see she was a young woman, around Mamoru or Motoki's age. Her skin glowed in the moonlight and at the top of her head a thick bun of jet black hair. She wore a vibrant blue dress that seemed to be adorned with crystals.

Moon narrowed her eyes at the lance and began to focus; during training she had asked Mina how she was able to recall her own weapon.

"_It's not too different from when you summon it after you transform, easier in fact because it's already physically there, you know? Just focus on its weight and the shape and it'll happen!"_

Moon clamped her eyes shut and visualized the lance in her hand, how her fingers curled around the grip. How holding it with one hand sometimes hurt her upper arm and with a flash of blue light it was there, in her hand. She stumbled forward as the weight took her by surprise but smiled seeing the seemingly perfect blade shine in the moonlight.

Eson shrieked and cupped her ears. Moon watched her mouth open wide and was braced herself for what was coming. Instead of a powerful burst of air several streaks of red zoomed in front of her and Eson was thrown onto the ground. She began to howl and cry, clawing at her side before she yanked out a red dart. Moon looked to the side to see Mask with his cane pointed at her.

"Good work Warrior Moon!" With that he charged in for her with his cane at the ready. Eson pulled the last dart free and let out a deep howl, the force of which sent Mask flying high into the air.

"Tuxedo Mask!" She was sure no one could survive such a fall but Mask flipped around in the air before his cape took the shape of a hang-glider, and the sharp dressed hero soared around above the area.

Before she had time to cheer, four long waves of fire came dangerously close to hitting Mask. To her left she saw Blaise swinging his arms like a madman and sending strips of fire from the black sticks.

"Ah ah ah!" Moon turned her attention to Eson who had closed the distance between them in a second. Her eyes widened as she belted out a screech that sent Moon flying back before she crashed into a tree. The impact caused her to cough harshly before she hit the ground.

Moon stabbed the lance into the dirt and forced herself up on wobbly legs before Eson slammed a hand against her throat, choking her back against the tree. Moon started to make hacking noises as she struggled for air before a streak of black landed behind Eson. A black covered arm wrapped around her throat before she flipped to the side, slipping out of Mask's grasp.

Moon fell from the tree, coughing into Mask's arm and he instantly helped her to her feet. "Warrior Moon, I think she attacks with supersonic waves, strong enough to cause some serious damage."

"And firecracker over there can swing fire out of those sticks right?" Moon quipped weakly.

"How can you joke at a time like this?" He looked down at her defiantly.

"It's the only thing I can do not to cry..." Moon sniffled hard and began to charge energy into the lance. Mask nodded at her before five more darts stuck out from the end of his lance.

"Together then?"

"Together."

As the two of them charged for Eson the lunar duo flipped effortlessly over the totaled car and broke Blaise's focus as they landed on opposite sites.

"Spinta!" Luna rasped and held her rapier blade out to him; a blue light from the tip forced him off the hood of the car. Artemis leapt up to him and rammed his own blade into the man's side.

Luna stepped onto the side of the car and jumped into the air, bringing her sword down on top of the man, the blade however was stopped short as he crossed his sticks above his head.

Artemis gritted his teeth and twisted his sword around. "Cremazione!" From the hilt of his sword fire shot down the blade and caught onto the man's tunic. Artemis leapt back from him as his back went up in flames and Luna too leapt out of range.

"FIRE! On me?" Blaise tossed his head back and cackled with heavy laughter as the fire began to consume him, his fiery locks became nothing but intense waves of flame. His clothing burnt into dust and left only fire covering his entire body. His eyes turned dark and his smile became menacing as he glared at the two.

"Tempesta!" Luna charged forward to the hood of the car and slid across it, from the tip of her rapier a strong blast of stable wind erupted, that blew Blaise into the air.

Artemis hopped onto the hood of the car and held his sword up high. "Fulmine!" From the skies above a streak of lightning ripped through the clouds and struck Blaise, sending the man of fire plummeting down to the ground. Off in the near distance Artemis could hear the occasional screech of Eson and the grunts and groans of the two fighting her.

"It's not over!" Luna reminded as she stepped onto the hood, pointing her blade at the man who was rising to his feet, setting the ground around him on fire.

"He's more dangerous than I thought." Artemis sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Should we hold him off until backup arrives?" Luna offered and Artemis shrugged, signaling it was their only choice. The two aimed their blades at him and called their command in unison, and a flash of blue light forced Blaise back further.

* * *

Moon cowered behind a tree and was finding it harder and harder not to panic. Nothing seemed to be working against Eson. Any projectiles she deflected away and getting close was too risky according to Mask.

Behind her she heard the woman screaming and felt the impact of the waves against the tree as bits of bark flew past her. Each blast forced a subdued squeak out of Moon as he felt the tree might snap in half at any minute.

"Where are the rest of the Cosmic Warriors?" Mask asked harshly from another tree to her right.

"You know about the others?"

"I met them recently..." And by met he meant almost struck by lightning and threatened.

"They were sent off to face more of these things!" Moon screamed as a stronger blast buffeted against the trees.

In the moment of silence between Eson's howls, Mask leapt up into the tree and caught onto the branches. He gave Moon a quick nod before he leapt out onto the ground and into Eson's line of sight.

"Done playing hide and seek?!" She jutted her neck out at him and sent a concentrated blast his way that destroyed the ground behind him.

While she was focused on him, Moon charged energy into the blade and twirled around the tree. In a flash of light she sent a thin disc of energy towards Eson. With his cane out, Mask leapt into the air again and fired out five darts.

Eson tilted her head back before she let an earsplitting scream rip free, the force of it was strong enough to be visible as a dome of grey energy that spread around her. The dome sent all of the darts off course and even the slash was sent flying into the sky.

As it continued to spread it force Moon and Mask back, each of them being slammed back against the ground. The force even tipped the car over, forcing Luna and Artemis under it. Blaise gave her a smirk of approval as the waves threatened to extinguish him.

"This isn't working..." Artemis whispered he and Luna were on their backs with their feet pressed against the hood to avoid being smashed.

"Did anyone call for some backup?" From the top of the hill came the perky voice of Warrior Venus, followed by the huskier one of Jupiter.

"We came to kick some Dark Kingdom ass!"

"They're here!" Moon cheered seeing her friends. Jupiter clenched her fist and electricity began to charge around the gauntlet before she jumped from the hill. From under the car came a pale flash of blue that sent the car flying up and slamming into Blaise.

The man took the brunt of the impact, but was only forced back slightly. "Nice trick!" Before he could see her Jupiter was already on top of him and with the added force of thunder behind her, her fist came crashing down onto him. A shockwave not unlike Eson's blasted through the area upon impact.

Moon felt herself being lifted up and freaked out for a moment before realizing it was Venus. "What's the deal with this woman?" She asked looking Eson up and down.

"She screams, loud."

"Like you?"

"No!" Moon huffed. "Worse! It's strong enough to blow you back and create dents in the ground. She's really strong..."

"She may be good but she certainly isn't fashionable." Venus shook a disapproving head at the woman "And the award for tackiest dress goes to-"

"Who?" Before Venus could finish Eson closed the distance between them and opened her mouth wide at the girl's chest, emitting a sharp cry shook the form of a condensed grey ball of energy between them. Venus felt the pressure of the ball digging into her chest as she threw her arms up, chains coming free from her heart disc and wrapping around Eson.

"You!" She called out as the ball between them exploded, forcing Venus high into the air. Although she was flying through the air further away from the area she managed to yank back on her chains, the heart shaped razors cut into Eson's back as forced the woman into the air with Venus.

"Yes!" Moon cheered. "Get her!" Up beside her rushed Tuxedo Mask. "Do you think can handle Eson on her own?"

"Not without our help." He answered plainly. "Have one of those slashes ready to go!" He charged after the two girls who were coming down towards the ground and Moon readied her lance for an attack as she followed after him.

Venus and Eson hit the ground hard but Venus seemed unaffected as she hit and rolled over, rebounding to her feet a moment later. She tugged back hard on her chains that were digging into the woman from all sides. "Not so tough now huh?"

Eson staggered to her feet and opened her mouth to scream, but the sound seemed trapped within her, her body shook violently before she collapsed.

Mask and Moon rushed to Venus' side and watched Eson struggle to stand again. "What was that? What happened?" Moon asked.

"It was a guess, but I figured the waves didn't just emit from her mouth, but through her whole body. By wrapping chains around her, it doesn't let the waves move freely." Venus tugged on the chains and Eson yelped as the razors dug into her flesh. "It's like having an air horn inside your body."

"Ouch." Moon said softly and placed her hand on her stomach.

"Warrioe Venus, you faced another monster like this?" Mask asked urgently.

"Yeah, some creepy chick who _loved _nature. She had a violin and controlled plants with it."

"Is that important?" Moon asked clueless.

"Maybe. It seems they all have something to do with music."

"Even firecracker?"

"Those sticks he was using, didn't they remind you of drum sticks at all?"

"Now that you mention it... No." Moon chuckled and scratched her head.

"Stop embarrassing us, Moon!" Venus screamed playfully. "What should we do with this thing?" Venus yanked on the chains again. "I already killed Arane, the nature lady, and Jupiter did the same to hers."

"Are you saying we keep her alive for something?" Mask questioned.

"She may have information to the Dark Kingdom, information the Guard may want."

"I'll never talk!" Eson rasped before groaning as Venus yanked on the chains again.

Back at the hill base Luna, Artemis and Jupiter were keeping Blaise on his toes with a barrage of attacks. Jupiter wasn't at all afraid of getting in close for attacks while the others blasted him from a distance.

"Spinta!" Luna called out and forced Blaise back as Jupiter delivered a swift combo of jabs before leaping from his range of attack.

"Don't toy with me!" Blaise barked and swung his arms in front of her chest, sending an X-shaped wave of fire out.

"This park will burn down if we don't stop him!" Artemis reminded as he Luna and Jupiter ducked behind the car.

"I'm on it! Be sure to shut him down for good!" Jupiter crouched low before charging out to the side, electricity crackled around her hands and when in range she began her assault.

Blow after blow, she never let up for a second. Blaise parried many of the punches but several connected with his flame covered head and forced him back with the added power of thunder behind them. As she stayed in close to him longer Jupiter could feel the heat pushing through her suit and the gauntlets heating up as well.

As Blaise let out a roar and raised his arms high Jupiter leapt out of range and onto the car as he slammed his fists down, creating a spout of fire. Following his example she laced her fingers to make a large fist as she leapt from the car. As she flew over him she pulled her pulled her arms back as far as they would go as she let out a mighty roar and slammed her hands down on his chest.

"Savage Thunder!" Upon impact electricity collected in her hands broke free, a rouge lightning bolt struck him dead in the center of his chest and behind her fists was a boom of thunder that forced him onto the ground.

"Now Luna!" Artemis called out as she ran out to one side of the fallen man and Artemis to the other.

"Legare!" The two called out, stabbing their blades into the ground and from the same ground erupted thick stands of fabric that slapped themselves down onto his body. Jupiter watched as the strands quickly encased his body and prevented the man from moving; the fabric also seemed unaffected by his fire as the flames were still ablaze.

"Did we do it?" Moon asked as she ran to the others, wrapping arms around Jupiter who pat her head. Behind her were Mask and Venus, the latter was dragging Eson along before letting her rest beside Blaise. The two shared disappointed looked before they began to bicker.

"For now it seems..." Artemis breathed and leaned against his sword hilt.

"Are you alright Luna?" Moon asked, approaching the woman slowly to see her nod.

"You surprised me, Moon." Mask announced. "You were really quite brave."

"Well what did you expect? It's been a while since you've had to save me and you've been out of the picture. I've done a lot of work be stronger." Moon flexed her imaginary muscles and earned a laugh from her friends.

"He's here."

The group turned to Eson who was looking to the sky with determination.

"Oh! You're so dead now girlie!" Blaise howled and Moon noticed a thin black streak flying past the moon followed by a much thicker black streak.

"Who's here?" Luna asked standing over Blaise.

"Master." Eson and Blaise responded.

"Beryl." Luna growled to the sky as the black lines in the sky were making zigzags and coming in closer. The two Youma snorted at Luna as the black streaks came in closer, sounding like something whistling through the area now.

The first landed on the ground in a murky fog that once cleared revealed a small male child. He had straight, chin-length raven-colored hair framing both sides of his face and fair-skin with blue eyes. He wore dark grey pants and jacket which was open and exposed a blue shirt underneath with a white face on it. Beside him the second crashed down in a similar manner, a murky darkness that cleared exposing Jadeite.

"Jadeite is the master behind these goofs?" Venus shouted exasperatedly.

"Surprised?" The Shitennou asked.

"Well yeah, you kind of fail at everything you do."

Moon narrowed her eyes at him; he looked far different than the last time they'd met. He looked exhausted and weak; his chin seemed discoloured along with the front of his uniform jacket, like it had been stained recently.

"Judging by your appearances I can see my Sound Youma have thus proven to be a challenge." Jadeite held a hand out and the chains binding Eson snapped along with the binding on Blaise.

In the quick confusion each side scurried to regroup. Luna and Artemis extended hands over the Warriors and Mask to protect them while Jadeite stood in a straight line with his allies. "I handpicked these Youma as my personal workers and have been waiting to unleash them."

"Youma?" Moon asked quietly, she couldn't take her eyes off the young boy; he stood still and never seemed to show any emotion.

Jadeite took a step forward and tapped the pendant on his chest. He then erupted with chaotic laughter as the pendant expanded to cover the entire width of his chest. From the sides of it thick dark energy began to pour out.

Soon Jadeite was shrouded in the darkness and his shape began to change, he seemed to grow taller and wider. The V on his chest had moved up higher and changed into a deep blue colour and the darkness was starting to take a definite shape.

He now stood tall in a suit of armor made of metal that had a deep purple hue about it. Moon could see the suit of armor was made of many sheets of metal that were crafted into many pieces for the suit: feet and leg guards, a four part diamond-shaped guard around the waist. A thick chest plate with pointed shoulder protectors and plates that protected his arms until it reached the finger gauntlets. As the suit finished forming the V shaped eye slit glowed brighter and his laughter was still heard like a robotic cackle.

"L-Luna..." Moon cowered behind her as she stared at the suit of armor, it was terrifying. Not only in its size, but the appearance and the pressure coming from it.

The suit began to observe itself, stretching out its thick black fingers and moving its arms up and down as if it were curling a weight.

"Master Jadeite." Eson stepped up to him. "Let us take care of the Warrior brats." The man in the suit continued to observe his limbs before he brought a powerful hand around to Eson's head. The force sent the woman flying across the park, her body moving like a pinwheel before she crashed through several trees and became embedded into the hard earth.

Moon shrieked at the display of power and clutched Luna's arm. "You monster!" she cried out and the helmet of the suit turned to her.

"You kill your own allies?" Jupiter hollered. "That's terrible!"

"No." Jadeite said slowly, his voice now distorted and deep as it came through the suit. "This is _power_."

"We need the Guard..." Artemis breathed as he glanced around the park looking for a route to escape.

"What the hell Jadeite?!" Blaise stepped ahead and was staring off into the distance where Eson's body had landed. "She didn't-"

A pair of metal arms wrapped around Blaise's head silenced him; the dark energy seeping out of Jadeite's suit covered the man's form. "Silence." With a quick motion the man's neck was snapped. The entire group heard the cracking sound and watched as the flames covering the man's body instantly died away. Blaise's naked body hung loosely in the inhuman arms of the suit like a rag doll before it fell limply to the ground.

"Exta." The suit spoke and the small boy standing in the background stepped up beside it. "Keep the others occupied." The suit bent over and pushed off the ground, flying for the group of heroes. Luna and Artemis crossed their rapiers and instantly a shining white wall formed ahead of the group.

Moon watched with wide eyes as it grew taller than any of the trees in the park but the charging suit of armor never faltered. As it came to meet the wall it faded into a thick black cloud that phased through the wall. Moon watched, mouth agape, as a solid hand stretched out from the cloud and gripped her upper body. She screamed as she was forced back with the cloud now taking shape of the suit again.

"WARRIOR MOON!" Luna shrieked and turned her attention from the young child to look back at the Warrior.

Across from them the child, Exta, lifted his arms slowly and an eerie smile crossed his lips.

"He's not a normal kid at all is he?" Venus sighed and watched him clap his hands together twice before spreading his arms, a moment later two wide maroon coloured diamonds formed around in front of his hands.

The child's stoic demeanor changed then, he began aggressively tapping on the diamonds that lit up with each touch before he slammed his hands onto them. On the ground beside him the body of Blaise began to glow maroon before it lifted off the ground, like a puppet on strings.

"He revived him!" Jupiter called out and looked over to Eson, in the ditch where she laid, a similar maroon glow was emerging. "Both of them!"

"I don't think so..." Artemis said and prepared himself for an attack as Blaise staggered slowly towards them. "I think he's merely controlling their corpses." To the right came a distant screech followed by a powerful gust of wind. Artemis swung his blade outwards and an ethereal silver wall formed between them, blocking the brunt of the wave.

From the ground ahead of them came a dull rumbling before the earth split and from it emerged a black fountain bottom. Jupiter's eyes opened wide and she clenched her fists, knowing what was to follow.

From the bottom of the fountain came a spring of water that quickly filled the fountain and from the water came the torso of a man with long braided silver hair. Swung over his shoulders were several saxophones and as the man puffed his cheeks he blew into a single mouthpiece that make water erupt form each of the bells.

"This is the Youma I fought!" Jupiter threw a hand out to point to the man; in his chest was a large hole where her fist had gone through once.

"This child can reanimate the dead." Mask announced while he watched Exta tapping away at more of the plate like diamonds, there were a total of five surrounding him now.

From behind the group the ground broke open again, this time long white pole emerged from it and around it coiled the body of a slender woman. On her chest were numerous holes along with deep cuts on her arms and back.

"Then the last one is..." Venus said to herself as she watched Youma begin to surround them. Around them in the trees came a rustling and slowly a woman in a black gown with long jet back hair descended from the canopy tops. There were several deep cuts on her chest and one on her neck that nearly detached her head from the rest of her body.

One by one the group began to space themselves out and face one of the Youma each. Venus took Arane, Jupiter faced Aquo again, Mask prepared himself against Terra. Artemis aimed his blade at Blaise and Luna watched the slow approaching Eson.

"Everyone listen." Luna announced. "Artemis and I will deal with these five, but even if we kill them something tells with the boy controlling them they'll still fight." The other three looked to each other with worried expressions.

"We need to stop him first of all, and Warrior Moon can't fight Jadeite by herself." Artemis added, placing a hand over the blade of his rapier blade. "Mask, can you stop the boy?" The man nodded. "Warrior Jupiter, Warrior Venus we'll get their attention, you need to get to Moon!"

"Are you sure?" Jupiter asked cautiously.

"Enough!" In the distance Exta screamed, but his voice was far from a child's. He began to tap furiously on the diamonds and the Youma each began to attack. Blaise's arms lit up with fire and he hunched over, beating his limbs on the ground senselessly like a primate, and from the ground emerged large waves of flames.

With a wave of his sword Artemis deflected the flames and Luna followed his lead and blocked a wave from Eson who was staggering closer.

"Jupiter, can I get a boost?" Mask asked and nodded towards Exta. Jupiter held a thumb up to him and crouched down, cupping her hands as the man placed his feet into them carefully. Electricity circuited her hands and his feet before she hurled him into the air; a sonic boom followed the man as he twirled in the air before he soared over the battleground.

Beside her, Venus threw an arm out and snatched up her disc as it flew back to her. "Luna's right, they don't even act like an attack hurts them." She watched Arane as her feet touched the ground and began to come closer, ignoring the gash Venus had made on her side just now.

"Just get to Warrior Moon, I'll hold them off for a minute." said Jupiter as she crossed her arms over her chest, sticking her index and pinky fingers up.

"You better be right behind me!" Venus fastened her disc to her wrist before she lunged forward and past Arane. The woman ran a hand along the bloody strings coming from her mouth. Instantly thick roots broke out of the ground and tried to catch her legs. Sweeping her arm low Venus sliced through some of the thinner roots and bounded out of the way of the rest.

After Jupiter focused electricity into her hands she laced her fingers together and leapt into the air. She pulled her arms back over her head before she hit the ground between the two female Youma. "Savage Thunder!" In the spot she landed lightning struck out around her like wildfire, striking the woman and upon impact a wave of air blew both of them out of her path.

Quietly Exta dragged a hand across one of the diamonds and a smaller blue diamond formed on its side. Upon its appearance he began to tap and work on that as well before slamming a hand onto it.

Before Venus emerged a thick creature made of rocks and soil, it took the shape of a bulbous man with a deformed head. Instantly she leaned forward, her hands touching the ground, before she flipped over in the air, avoiding the sweeping arm of the creature before landing on its head. Not letting a moment pass she swung her legs around its neck and ran her heart blade along its neck line. As she rotated around on its shoulder the head of the monster fell off and sent Venus falling down to the ground with it in her lap.

"Ugh!" She shoved the head of earth away before sprinting off to where she believed she'd find Moon.

Jupiter slammed her feet onto the body of the rock monster that was attacking blindly and leapt over it. She hit the ground rolling and continued on after Venus who was dashing across the park at top speed.

Standing in the midst of five different Youma, Artemis and Luna covered the bottom of their rapiers, a small part of the blade glowing in the process.

"Be careful with how much energy you use, remember they won't die no matter how many times we cut them down." Luna reminded as her blade erupted in a brilliant white light that changed the shape of the blade, becoming wide like a claymore.

* * *

Across the park Jadeite had Warrior Moon pinned down with the large hand of his suit, the girl squirmed but was able to make the hand even budge.

"The suit weighs over three tons foolish girl! As if you could do anything against me like this! I could break every single one of your bones right now if I wanted!" Jadeite cackled behind the helmet before he whipped his head around. "That power..." Before he saw them coming the other Cosmic Warriors were on him.

Jupiter landed a punch against the side of the helmet that rocked the suit with a heavy vibration. Over her shoulders came Venus, wrapping a chain around the body of the suit before she landed beside Moon. "Now!" Jupiter gripped the chain and charged electricity through it, watching the power surge through the links until the suit of armor was surrounded by the current.

Through the sound of cracking electricity came Jadeite's maniacal robotic laughter. With little strain the suit's arms were thrown up and easily broke the chain into pieces.

"What?! He's so strong!" Venus gripped her heart disc tightly; wondering if that was strong enough to pierce his defense.

"That suit of his is no joke." Jupiter huffed and clenched her fists.

Free of the heavy hand Warrior Moon scrambled away from Jadeite and paused at Jupiter's legs. "I'm so happy to see you guys. He was gonna crush me!"

"You're safe now." Jupiter helped her to her feet and the three lined up together, waiting, as the suit stood tall.

"How perfect, I'll destroy all three of you at once!"

"In your dreams creep!" Moon held a hand out and a moment later her lance reformed in it upside down. She rushed energy through the blade and flicked it upwards, sending a thin disc straight for him. "Moon Blade Slash!"

From the suit came a harsh cackle as its massive arms clamped down on the disc, slowing its rotation to a halt.

"No fair!"

The laughter continued as the dark streaks of electricity ran over the disc followed by dark bands that spread from the suits hands. Soon the glowing white disc of energy was tainted; now pitch black with a purple tint to it.

"Can he do that?!" Venus asked exasperatedly as the suit pulled back an arm, ready to hurl the disc at them. "Duck!" At the word all three of them hit the ground; the black disc whirled over them and sliced through a collection of trees that flanked a stone walkway.

"Distract him." Jupiter rasped to Moon as she crawled away. Moon rose to her feet and gripped her lance tightly; filling the blade with energy.

"That won't work on me!" Jadeite barked and charged her; the lower half of the suit vanished, replaced by a thick black cloud. Moon shrieked and dove for the ground again as he flew over her.

"Take this!" From his right Jupiter appeared, fist drawn back and collecting a mass amount of power that struck the suit in the chest plate. Upon impact, Jupiter felt a force of greater power pushing her back. "Gah!" With one flexing motion the suit repelled Jupiter and sent her tumbling across the ground.

"Where is his weakness?!" Venus asked and Moon dropped her shoulders in defeat.

"I have none!" Jadeite roared and threw an arm out; the black disc returned to view and was gripped by his hand. Faster than a three ton suit of metal should, Jadeite spun around and hurled the disc out again, this time it cut through the ground and sliced through the air heading for Moon.

The blonde suited Warrior cowered and cried as the disc came from her, only to hear it collide with something hard in front of her. Peering through her mask she stood in awe as Venus seemed to be blocking the disc. With her heart disc fixed on her wrist she struggled to stop the spinning disc form slicing through her only defense.

"Venus!"

"Move it Moon, I can't hold this thing back forever!"

"I got it!" Jupiter crossed their path and brought a charged fist onto the side of the disc. Throwing it off course and shattering it into a mass of black energy.

Venus observed the front of her disc and gave Jupiter a thumb up before she took notice of Jadeite again. "We need a plan."

"What about a combined attack?" Jupiter offered and glanced to Moon. "It worked before, it was really powerful."

"I don't know how many more attacks I have in me..." Moon breathed and hunched over, resting her hands on her knees.

"Just one is all we'll need to blow a hole in that tin can!" Jupiter helped straighten her up and Moon smiled to her, feeding more energy into her blade. Jupiter began to focus her energy into her gauntlet and held a hand out, waiting for Moon to bring her lance up.

"I'll do what I can." Venus winked to the girls behind her mask and glanced to her disc before she charged Jadeite.

The suit let out a powerful roar that caused her to stop for a moment before she pressed on. Making a bold move she leapt off the ground and landed on the chest of the suit. Not letting her stride stop, she ran up the chest plate, grabbing onto the helmet she flipped over the top and swung her legs around the neck of the suit.

"You little brat!" Jadeite roared from within while its massive arms swung at Venus, she let herself drop back behind him and out of range while the arms tried to grab her. Pulling her disc apart she held the ends and began to cut at the suit. Her efforts proved to be in vain as the blades merely grazed along the tough metal, not even making a single scratch.

Seeing a shadow hover over her Venus sidestepped just in time as a powerful arm collided with the back of the suit. Unwilling to give up, she wrapped the chain of the disc around the arm before she gripped the shoulder piece and ran along the body until she reached the head again. Leaping off the suit she used her chain like a line and swung around to the front of the suit.

With a grunt Venus slammed her feet together and shoved them through the blue V-shaped eye shield. With a satisfying cheer Venus relished in the ground of glass breaking as she yanked her legs out. As she slid down the suit she caught a glimpse inside, Jadeite's appearance caused her to lose focus and she slipped off, crashing to the ground on her leg.

"You'll pay!" Jadeite raised both of the suit's arms up over its head and brought them down over Venus. She girl shrieked and crawled back under the suit, avoiding a life-threatening attack.

"NOW!" Venus shouted out to her fellow Warriors.

"She said now." Jupiter said to Moon, the two were gripping the lance above their heads, ready for a combined slash attack.

"Moon Blade Slash!"

Together the girl's dropped the lance down and as it hit the ground a thick disc of sparkling energy shot out from its swing arc. The disc zipped through the night air and as Jadeite lunged to the right the disc mimicked his moment.

As Venus crawled away a throbbing pain in her ankle made it harder for her to get away as the disc collided with the suit. Jadeite roared, the suit itself mimicking the roar in an amplified way as the disc stuck into the shoulder plate of the suit. Slowly the suit gripped the edge of the disc, and tried to corrupt it as it had done before, but the disc refused to slow its rotation.

Beside Jupiter, Moon collapsed and leaned against the lance to avoid hitting the ground completely. "I'm pooped..."

"It's not going to work!" Jupiter bellowed, frustrated as the suit seemed to be stopping the attack.

"I won't let him get away." Venus forced herself up against a tree and held her disc out in front of her before hurling it up into the sky. She watched as it twirled higher into the air before she extended a hand to it. "Venus' Raining Shot of Love!" Ripping her hand out of the air her disc shone a bright orange colour before numerous thick lines of energy exploded from it, raining down on the suit like a bombs from the sky.

Jupiter and Moon watched in awe as the suit was bombarded by attacks from above, and Jupiter began to charge more energy into her fists. "You got one more in you Moon?" Weakly Moon smiled up to her brawny friend and forced herself onto her feet, yanking the lance out of the ground, and with Jupiter's help, held it steady at Jadeite.

"Just like in the alley?" Moon asked and watched the tip of the lance turn into a point again and light up. Jupiter nodded beside her and filled the lance with her own power as streaks of lightning began to race around the weapon.

Together the girls forced their energy through the lance and as the power left the blade tip the girls were forced back on the ground by the recoil. The moment the blast hit, the park was submerged in a light so intense it flooded their vision with the luminescence, and for a moment, nothing but the light existed. On the heels of the light came the roar. The roar strong enough to make the ground quake and the trees to bend.

Several yards away Luna and Artemis, hunched over their blades were hit by the light as they advanced on the wounded Youma child.

"They did it..." Tuxedo Mask breathed and held his sword steady at Exta who was cowering near the base of the hill. "Now we've got to finish our part."

Standing back to back Luna and Artemis nodded as they prepared to fend off the five Youma that were now covered in cuts and burn marks. Exta held a hand up to Mask as he came in closer, holding his blade over the child.

"Please!" He pleaded.

Artemis glanced back to him for a moment, his voice was that of a child's now and his cry to be spared sounded sincere. Mask; however, wasn't falling for it, in a swift motion he swung his blade across at the child. Artemis turned away from it as the head rolled off to the left and his body fell limply off to the right. Ahead of him the Youma began to tremble and collapse, dark maroon energy seeping out of their bodies.

"Is this it?" Artemis asked glancing to the sky as the light that had flooded over them was fading fast. The bodies ahead of him were drained of the energy and were now showing normal effects of all the damage they had taken, burn marks spread over their bodies and their cuts began to bleed normally.

"Let's head to the girls." Luna rushed past Artemis who was reluctant at first, looking back to the child's body, but soon followed after her. Trailing after them Tuxedo Mask followed along as well.

Venus staggered back to Jupiter and Moon who both embraced her in a warm hug, their attack had created a cloud of smoke that raised high above the park and blocked off their visibility of whatever was left of Jadeite.

"Is he really gone?" Jupiter asked, squeezing Venus tightly while she kept an eye on the dust cloud.

"I don't feel that icky energy coming off that suit anymore..." Moon answered weakly, feeling as if she could collapse at any moment.

"Another victory for the Cosmic Warriors!" Venus cheered weakly.

"It's not over... Yet!"

From inside the cloud came a deafening roar that blasted away the dust and revealed half of the suit of armor. The rest of it was now longer in solid form, the entire left side was a murky dark cloud that was barely clinging to Jadeite's body.

"Why won't he stay down?!" Venus cried and felt herself tense up seeing the man in person again. His face was drained of colour, his hair was damp and matted to his forehead in curls, and blood stained his chin and the front of his jacket. The most alarming thing about him was his arm, the fact that it was gone.

Moon clamped a hand over her mouth as the man staggered from the crater the combined attacks had created. The closer he hobbled the more of his suit evaporated; now even the darkness was struggling to hold onto him.

"Warriors!" Luna called out rushing to the girls' side, Artemis rushed to Venus and Mask followed after Luna.

"Luna he's still..." Moon whined, watching Jadeite stumble and hit the ground hard.

"No." He choked and began to crawl towards him, his gloved hand digging into the dirt as he pulled himself across the earth. The stump where his arm once was, left behind a trail of blood as he slithered towards them. "Do not look down on me!" Slowly he struggled to even rise to his knees and the group of heroes backed away from him.

"We've got company." Mask stated and directed everyone's attention to the sky where a thick streak of black was crossing the moon and heading for them.

"Another one?!" Jupiter screeched, trying to gather energy in her fists, but wasn't able to focus it.

The black streak crashed down beside Jadeite and instead of a person emerging from it simply remained as a thick amorphous dark figure. Jadeite slowly became consumed by it and was sucked into the darkness before it shot into the sky and returned to the ground away from the group. Beside each of the fallen Youma corpses are where the figure paused, gathering them all into the darkness before it took off into the sky again.

Minutes past before the group was able to breathe again, under the impression Jadeite and his Youma were gone for good they all began to relax. Moon fell onto the ground with a heavy sigh and Venus and Jupiter followed her example.

"We did it!" Venus cheered weakly, nursing her throbbing ankle.

"Good job ladies." Artemis said winded.

"We should get out of here..." Luna said and looked around the park, if all the commotion earlier didn't attract any attention that loud explosion certainly did. "Can you guys walk?" Luna asked the girls on the ground, but paused noticing Moon was gone.

In the distance she saw the blue suited girl jogging after Tuxedo Mask who had also slipped away without being noticed.

"Stop!" She called after him. "Please!" she rasped at him, stopping in her own tracks.

"What?" Mask asked back to her coldly, pausing.

"How come you only show up when I need you, and then leave without a word?" Moon took slow steps closer to him.

The man turned his head to her and spoke slowly. "I don't – I don't arrive when you need me. I have my own agenda, and my job here is done." With a quick step he began to head off again, Moon diligently followed.

"Is that all this is to you?" She threw her arms out and looked around the destroyed park. "A job? Facing bad guys? And stealing jewels?" At that he turned to face her and through his mask she could see his narrowed eyes. "You were there that night, that Naru was attacked. I thought you were the guy trying to hurt her, but you saved her, and me."

Transfixed by her words Mask failed to realize Moon had closed the distance between them. It wasn't until she placed a hand gently on his abdomen he realized she was there. "You don't have to do this alone, whatever you're doing."

A look of disdain made its way onto his face as he backed away from hand. "All I want is the crystal. And I'll dispose of anyone who gets in my way of it." His voice was cold; it startled Moon as Mask turned away.

"Then how come you showed up here tonight?" Moon clasped her hands together in front of her chest. "We don't have any crystal so why help us? Why help me?"

Moon stood quietly waiting for his reply, in the distance she heard the road of engines coupled with the sound of squad cars. She tried her hardest not to turn to the sound, she didn't want to let Mask out of her sight, but she did.

In a split second she looked back and saw several motorcycle headlights weaving through the park while on the street above the squad car siren lights were flashing brightly. When she turned her head forward he was gone.

Moon assured herself they would meet again before the thundering of footsteps behind her garnered her attention. Jupiter bounded up to her and took her hands.

"The Guard's here, let's go." Jupiter said and led her quickly to the group of motorcycles.

"You in the park!" From the top of the hill came a man's voice over a loudspeaker. "Remain where you are!"

"Why are they yelling at us, we're not the bad guys?" Moon huffed.

"Who cares?" Venus hopped onto a motorcycle behind a Protector with blonde hair poking out from under a helmet, Iah presumably "Let's break!" And the bike tore off in its spot, zipping through the park and Jupiter took off on another.

Artemis sighed as he hopped onto a bike behind Nikkal. "It's let's split, not break..."

"Come Moon." Desi said sweetly beside her, she hopped onto the bike and held on tight as she followed the lead of the others and sped out of the park.

Behind them Moon could hear the police shouting and firing shots towards them. During the ride Moon fell into slumber and awoke several times. Each time she could hear the distant sound of police sirens and the on her face were lines of the night air, gently kissing the slits of skin not covered by her mask.

* * *

In the dark throne room of the Dark Kingdom a man's body crashed against the floor in a bloody mess.

With a shaking arm he struggled to get to his feet. His body had experienced hell in the hours preceding his return. The bloodied stub of a left arm was a pain like he'd never experienced before, his chest was on fire, and blood caked his jacket front as well as his lips and chin.

Jadeite scrunched his body up, making it easier to rise, to his knees at least. He narrowed his eyes to try and get a clear view at the woman before him.

Queen Beryl sat in her throne as usual, fist supporting her titled head while she watched Jadeite, amused.

"I found him just like this my Queen."

Behind him was the voice of a man, one he recognized, Zoisite.

"I've collected the fallen Youma as you requested as well, my Queen."

"Very good." Beryl waved a hand and behind him Jadeite could hear footsteps leading away.

"Explain to me what happened." Queen Beryl demanded, and adjusted herself in her seat. Her murky black orb rose before her and her boney hands began encircling it. Slowly the orb began to show her a blurry playback of the battle that had occurred earlier, as seen through one of the Youma's eyes.

"Everything happened as I planned..." He breathed, exhausted. "I managed to separate all of them, the Warriors, the Protectors, and even the Guard was kept at bay." Jadeite continued and turned his gaze to the cold floor beneath him.

"These Youma of yours didn't seem to last long, and I see you killed two of them by yourself." Beryl added in slowly, her orb showing Blaise having his neck snapped.

"They had done their part. My Queen with that team, the Sound Siblings, five of them were more useful dead to me than they were alive... With Exta being able to reanimate their corpses and any form of nature nearby, it was the perfect plan."

"I know this already, Jadeite. But as I see it with Exta dead, these bodies are worthless now." Beryl gestured to the corpses lined behind Jadeite. "Explain to me why you were returned here before your mission was complete."

"I can answer that for you my queen." Zoisite chimed in and moved forward, stepping on one of the bodies before quickly bowing to his queen.

"Jadeite was controlling each of the Youma to make sure they stayed a certain distance away from one another, to make sure the Guard wasn't able to regroup so easily. Great work by the way." Zoisite said. "However, it seems Jadeite is terribly ill, and the strain made him weak and unable to control them any longer. I watched from a distance, the Warriors made quick work of them once he lost control and were able to meet up with each other soon after. I stayed around to watch the show and found Jadeite's body after he took a beating from those girls."

"Jadeite." Queen Beryl said sternly.

"Yes, my Queen." Jadeite answered and looked to meet her gaze.

"How long has this _illness_ been affecting you?"

"It's nothing my Queen."

"How long?"

"Since our attack on the Silver Millennium." He admitted.

Beryl stirred in her seat before craning her neck around. "Well, as much as I appreciate your commitment to keeping our plan on schedule, your ill health seems to be getting in the way." Beryl spoke slowly and raised a hand, one long finger nail pointing to her soldier. "For that you are dismissed."

A ball of light emerged from Jadeite's chest; the soldier himself looked in shock as he felt his body go numb. The light dispersed leaving behind a small jewel that glowed from within; Beryl looked her soldier once more before extending her boney hand. The light within the jewel spread outwards, wrapping around Jadeite's body.

"Wait my Queen!" He yelped. "I found the identities of the Warriors!"

Beryl raised an eyebrow to him and Zoisite shot him a dirty glare.

"Yes! I saw them! Before I sent the Youma in to attack, I saw them all out of their transformations!"

"I admire a solider who is useful until the very end." Beryl said calmly.

"My Queen, I can still fight..."

Beryl nodded before folding her hands in her lap. "I have one final mission for you."

"Anything!" Jadeite collapsed over on the ground and coughed hard, splattering blood on the floor.

"The body is a wonderful machine, when one has the right tools to operate it." Beryl said coldly. "Even after one's death their thoughts can still be accessed." In the back of the chamber Zoisite smirked at the writhing Jadeite. "Since you seem to still have energy left to fight, why not put the energy to good use Jadeite?"

"Anything you need my Queen! I can begin gathering more energy tomorrow!" A hopeful mask covered Jadeite's pained face.

Beryl shook her head and waved a hand at Jadeite. "You needn't worry about gathering energy, for you have the last collection of energy I will need from you."

"W-What?"

"I am going to drain your body of the last of its energy." Beryl said and Jadeite's eyes grew wide. "Once you are dead, your brain will be taken and used to recover your memories of the Warriors. It is through this that you will become most useful to me."

Jadeite's hopeful expression dropped and Zoisite suppressed a giggle as the light continued to spread over his body. Unable to resist its grasp Jadeite's body was covered with the light before it dimmed, leaving the man frozen in time.

"Nephrite!" Queen Beryl shouted as she stretched her hand.

"Yes my Queen." From the stone floor emerged the same man from before. He bowed before Beryl and as he stood shot Zoisite a distasteful glance.

"Due to Jadeite's untimely removal from this task, I will need you to take up his assignment. Gather energy for our ultimate goal." Queen Beryl spoke slowly and coiled her fingers inwards, the stiff Jadeite lifting into the air and coming towards her.

"I won't fail you like that fool Jadeite." Nephrite responded in a snarly tone as he stood.

"It'd be in your best interest to show respect to Jadeite for he did not fail me this time!" Queen Beryl exclaimed as she rose to her feet, purple lightning and a dark aura filled the hall that forced Nephrite back onto his knees. "If he is true to his word about seeing their true identities, the Cosmic Warriors will soon face their demise."

"Zoisite, I want the bodies of these Youma taken to the lab. This time we will not fail." Queen Beryl snickered which filled the entire hall, resonating off the marble walls and her remaining soldiers nodded in understanding.

* * *

End of Chapter Thirteen

* * *

Next, in the wake of their victory the girls enjoy a relaxing day before Usagi hears troubling news of a murder and the unlikely suspect behind it. With Jadeite gone and Nephrite working directly for Beryl, will the newest Shitennou pose a bigger threat? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Fourteen - Days to Cherish**


	14. Days to Cherish

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about.

**Note:** Hope you enjoy reading, as always feedback is welcomed and appreciated.

**Review Notes: -** **avesiji: **Your faith has not been misplaced. I don't want to give too much away, but I'm not following in the anime's, or manga's, footsteps when it comes to Jadeite. All I can say is keep reading.

**- ****DonovanX: **Thanks, yawn...

**- Guest:** See avesiji comment^

* * *

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN - Days to Cherish**

* * *

**Saturday, October 3****rd**

Usagi spent the night tossing and turning, unable to find a comfortable position or a peaceful dream to sleep through.

Though they were muffled in the back of her mind, she could still hear Eson's sonic cries, as well as her voice and the sounds of booms and explosions that came from the park last night. Her feet throbbed and ached. She still felt pain in her legs as if she'd never stopped running.

When she awoke she could only recall chunks of the previous day, bad chunks. What she had been doing at the arcade was a blur and even what happened after the Guard arrived came to her in bits and pieces.

After rubbing her weary eyes and stretching she felt as if she'd been sleeping longer than just one night.

"Mm..." She groaned with some indifference, dropped her arms back on to the bed, and causally glanced to Luna. The cat was curled into a ball beside her on her pillow.

Taking a glance at herself she realized she'd been changed out of her clothes from yesterday sometime after returning home. But even that wasn't clear to her.

Throughout the night she remembered hearing the woman's voice as they came home. She remembered Luna her laying on thick lies to her parents about her whereabouts, who she was, and why she was bringing her home so late.

Gently, Usagi swung her legs out and stretched her toes out before getting up and heading into the hallway.

From there she managed to make her way to the kitchen, making as little noise as possible. She assumed everyone else was still asleep even though she had no idea what time it was.

"Food... Food..." While rummaging through their cabinets for a snack Usagi listened to a soft patter against the dining room window. Leaning against the counter she could see rain pelting itself against the glass.

She'd decided to take a moment to listen to the ambience before she returned to her room. In her arms she carried enough food to last her for the day. Several bags of chips and a few candy bars she had stowed away.

"Good morning." She heard as she entered her room. Luna was resting against the pillow with her tail tapping against the mattress.

The girl let out a soft sigh before greeting the cat. "Morning." She then placed her snacks onto the table before crawling over to the bed to scratch under Luna's chin.

"How are you feeling?" She asked while she watched Usagi turn to her snacks and rip open a bag.

"Sore." Usagi groaned out before popping a chip into her mouth. "I can't remember the last time I slept like that, I must have been exhausted." In her mind she thanked Kami this all happened on a Friday. There'd be no way she would be heading to school this morning the way she felt.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" Luna asked as she walked to the edge of the bed, looking over Usagi's food.

"Not at all, but you need clothes." Usagi narrowed her eyes at the cat. "Minako told me Artemis is naked when he transforms into a human, I bet you're the same."

Luna huffed at the girl before she made her way under the covers, a light creeping out from under them a moment later. Usagi watched as human limbs poked out from odd angles before Luna crept off the bed and wrapped Usagi's sheets around her before taking a seat with her at the table.

"This better?" Luna asked smugly while she reached for a handful of chips.

"It'll do." Usagi mumbled.

The girls eyed each other for a minute before laughter took over and they found themselves playfully shoving each other through their giggles.

While digging through one of the bags Luna complained about being thirsty to which Usagi offered to get drinks and made another trip to the kitchen; returning with several cans of pop for them. Luna thanked her before chugging down her first can.

Usagi would have been content to sit and watch the woman act like a normal person for a change, rather than her usual self. Throughout the morning the girls made several games with their food, keeping score of who could catch the most chips in their mouth. Who could chug their pop the fastest, they even submitted themselves to a burping contest, and Usagi's surprise Luna took home gold in all.

"Ahh! I almost forgot!" Usagi shouted and startled Luna with her urgency.

"What?"

"Did everyone else make it out okay?" she asked. "Last night I mean."

"For the most part." Luna retorted and Usagi frowned at her.

"What does that mean?" Usagi dug into a bag and tossed a handful of chips into her mouth.

"Minako has a sprained ankle." Usagi's mouth went agape at that and Luna pushed her jaw up, she didn't enjoy the sight of chewed potato chips. "Artemis took her in last night for x-rays, the Protectors were all fine. However there's some damage that's been done that isn't so easy to fix."

"Like what?"

"The news."

Usagi shrugged it off while she took a quick drink. "How is that damage? Don't you have people to handle that stuff?"

"We do, after returning to base they handled the situation as per usual. But it turns out the news reporters were already on scene when our PR specialists arrived. Our next move would have been to intercept or stop the broadcast, but we were unable to do either. Apparently it was requested that the report not be stopped for any reason, by some higher power, higher than ours."

"Uh, what higher power?"

"You've met the Protectors, and know that a large number of SAT members and police officers are a part of the Guard. However some of our most powerful members are those who do not appear on the front line." Luna responded and Usagi gave her a blank look in return. "We have associates located in some of the top organizations in this country, including the Emperor's and Prime Minister's office. So while you think we simply throw on disguises to get things done, sometimes there's nothing more powerful than a letter from the Japanese Emperor giving you security clearance."

"Wow." Usagi sung and rocked back and forth.

"But it's not so much that someone did a story about the incident. Do you remember what I told you when we first met? If their actions were to come out to light they'd have no reason to hide in the shadows any longer."

"Yeah, I remember."

"Depending on what is on the broadcast, it could affect the future of our struggle with them."

"You haven't seen it yet?" Usagi asked shocked.

"I imagine they'll first broadcast it sometime this morning, it should be in the papers as well." Luna said in melancholy tone.

"Luna, I have a few more questions about the Protectors, and the Guard..." Usagi mumbled.

"I'm listening."

"I remember Mani calling you and Artemis, Global Protectors. But he didn't call Desi one, is there a difference?"

Luna nodded knowingly. "In the Protectors there are different ranks. Mani is the highest, the Head of our Division. Followed the Global Protectors: Kalla, Artemis, Jarilo, Ilargi, Losna, and myself. All of the others, Desi, Gesi, Iah, Soma, Nikkal, and Dewi, are regular Protectors. Your rank basically dictates the level of work you can take. Regular Protectors handle a lot small things around Japan. Meanwhile us Globals handle things of a larger scale and any and all international matters."

"I've never seen any of the regular Protectors around the city, I only see you and Artemis. And that one time, Kalla." said Usagi.

"Like I said, they do _small _things, like checking the coast, freeways, and airports for suspicious activity. Monitoring the air waves for incoming transmissions, running training camps for our SAT members. We all have our part to play, we're assigned specific sections within the Guard to take control of."

"Oh? What's your section?" Usagi asked as she popped open another can.

"Artemis and I are in charge of you Warriors." Luna jabbed Usagi in the arm. "As well as our field agents that assist in combat. Desi and Gesi are also in charge, but they are second in command."

"What's that mean?"

"If something were to happen to me, Desi would become a Global Protector and take my place. Same with Artemis and Gesi."

"So, if you had an _accident_, you'd be gone for good?" Usagi asked mischievously.

"Don't get any ideas!"

In the silence that followed the girls returned to eating until the sound of a car engine approached the house. Both of them made their way to Usagi's window to catch Kenji high-tailing it from his car with a newspaper over his head.

"Dad's home early." she muttered. "C'mon Luna, let's go." Usagi stood up and headed towards her door.

"Where?"

"Living room, maybe we can catch the broadcast and check the paper. Find something in my dresser to put on." Usagi waved a hand to the piece of furniture before heading into the hallway, closing the door behind her. She stopped in her tracks though, coming face to face with her mother who was wielding a spatula.

"Usagi." Ikuko said sternly.

"Yes, mom?"

"I'm still waiting on an explanation from last night, what were you doing out so late?!" Ikuko asked while she beat the spatula against the palm of her hand. Usagi couldn't take her eyes off it.

"I was – uh..."

"She was with me Mrs. Tsukino." Luna said as she stepped out of the room, adjusting a yellow blouse she had thrown on.

"Oh! L – Luna, I didn't realize you stayed over." In an instant Ikuko's demeanor changed. A second ago she was ready to beat her daughter with the spatula, and at Luna's appearance Usagi figured her mom might cook Luna an entire gourmet meal with it in a moment.

"I apologize, I was too tired to risk driving home and Usagi was kind enough to offer me her bed." Luna continued and placed a hand on Usagi's shoulder, a clue for her to play along. The blonde smiled and bobbed her head. "I'm sorry about bringing her home so late, we lost track of time catching up on her homework and then all the madness was happening last night it wasn't safe to travel, and eventually we risked it and thankfully made it here in one piece."

Usagi continued to nod, looking like a life-sized bobble head now. She was pleased whatever story Luna had told her last night and was still lying about was working on her mom.

"Well, I've just finished breakfast, and your father is home, Usagi." She glanced to her daughter who hadn't stopped nodding. "Luna, we'd love to have you stay for breakfast."

"Wonderful."

"Is something wrong with your head?" Ikuko asked, and alerted Usagi to the fact she was still nodding.

"Hahaha! No! C'mon Luna before Shingo eats all the biscuits!" Usagi cackled before grabbing Luna's wrist and pulled her down the hall.

"Take it easy Usagi; you're going to pull my arm out of the socket!" Luna rasped as she was yanked down stairs and into the dining room.

Kenji was there, along with Shingo who had loaded his plate up with food while Kenji was looking over the damp news pages.

"Who's she?" Shingo inquired once he saw Luna.

"She's your sister's tutor." Kenji answered. "And she must be a good one to keep Usagi up so late working on quad – what was it Luna?"

"Quadratic equations, sir."

"That." Kenji said shaking his head. "I had no clue your schoolwork was so hard Usagi."

The blonde looked blankly at Luna before she gave off a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, those equations, they'll 'getcha." She continued to laugh while she fixed a plate for herself, wondering just what else Luna could get away with lying about.

After all of the Tsukino family had sat down for breakfast, along with their guest, the conversation began and it was to no one's surprise about the event from the previous night.

Usagi and Luna kept quiet for most of it, according to Luna's tale they had been across town at a tutoring school when everything went down. This worked to the woman's advantage, as hearing firsthand what the public knew was the most important thing at the moment.

"That's why I came home early, apparently the office sustained some damage last night and it's closed until the repairs are done." Kenji told his wife while skimming through the paper. "The streets are a mess anyway, traffic for miles. One of the highways is down, literally, and it's throwing everything out of order."

Usagi kept an eye on her father while she nibbled against a piece of bacon, occasionally glancing to Luna to see the woman with her eyes trained on the newspaper. Finally she decided to get the answers they would probably need.

"Dad, what does the paper say about it?" Usagi asked to Luna's surprise.

"It says..." He droned, looking for the bulk of the article. "That there was suspicious activity in the sky yesterday afternoon, reports were being sent in about meteorites. There are a couple of witnesses to the event saying they followed the lights in the sky in their cars to find where they landed. But no one got close enough to see much after weird things started happening."

"More weird than Usagi staying out and studying?" Shingo snorted while mashing a piece of toast to his face to avoid eating the crust.

Ikuko nudged her son and smiled while Usagi glared daggers at him before her father continued.

"Apparently, there were some abnormal plant growth in one neighborhood, and some faulty pipes in another." Kenji scrunched up his face while looking over the next page. "And they say whatever fell from the sky caused all the damage on the highway."

Usagi glanced back at Luna who seemed troubled by the news, more so than she imagined her being. She was tempted to ask if she was alright, but before she could the doorbell rang. Ikuko hopped up and swayed out of the room to answer it.

"Hey." Usagi whispered and nudged the woman. "You okay?"

"This doesn't really sound like I expected it to, they're making it sound almost natural." Luna answered.

"Isn't that good? Then it just seems like weird coincidences, not anything else."

"Usagi! You have a visitor." Ikuko called from the hallway.

Usagi trotted from the dining room and quickly lit up once she saw a soaked Naru Osaka standing inside, taking off her shoes.

"Naru?" Usagi asked, the visit coming as a surprise to her.

"Oh hey Usagi! I _had_ to come over, some freaky stuff when down last night!" Naru exclaimed and shed her denim jacket that she hung onto the rack.

From behind Usagi came Luna who moved past the girl and headed back up the stairs. "Let's go Usagi, we have some more studying to do." she lied. But Usagi understood and motioned for Naru to come and the two followed Luna upstairs.

Back inside her room Luna shut and locked the door while Naru and Usagi made themselves comfortable on the bed. Luna eased herself down in front of the table and rested her elbows on it, cupping her face. She remained in that position for a few minutes until the silence was beginning to bother Usagi.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm trying to figure out why the paper isn't making a bigger deal about it."

"Usagi, were you involved that last night?" Naru asked quickly, the question that had been on her mind all morning.

"Yeah."

"That's so crazy!" Naru exclaimed. "Weren't you scared?"

"I guess so." Usagi said quietly while biting her lip. "I didn't really think about being scared for long though. I just tried to stay alive, other than that I – I really can't remember how I felt. I knew I was supposed to fight, but it felt like something inside was guiding me."

"Still, it's so cool." Naru said with a sigh.

Just then Luna shot up and glared at Usagi. "I just remembered something! We still haven't discussed you revealing your identity to Naru!" The Protector growled.

"Oh calm down Luna!" Usagi said with a tone of annoyance. "I can't keep something like that from her."

Luna shook her head at the girl, disappointed. "You only put her in more danger like that."

"Yeah, 'cause she's was so safe until then..." She muttered, and Naru looked down. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Naru whimpered.

"They already knew where she lived Luna; it doesn't get more dangerous than that. At least now she knows who she can trust and depend on."

"She could have had the same piece of mind believing both Usagi Tsukino _and _Warrior Moon were looking out for her. You've just taken the easy road for yourself and made it more complicated for us."

"Everything is complicated when it comes to this life, Luna." Usagi mocked.

"Why don't you seem happy about it?" Naru asked innocently. "I think it'd be so cool to save the day, and those suits you guys wear. Very sexy, you're bound to get some male fans dressed like that." Naru giggled and Usagi nearly choked.

"C – Cut it out Naru." she stammered. "It's not some game... It's serious." In her head she could see Jadeite's wounded body staggering towards them, as well as the suit of arm snapping the neck of the Youma.

"I guess so." Naru said with a pout before she lit up again. "I almost forgot! Do you wanna come to a tennis match with me tomorrow?"

"Tennis? I'm not really a fan." Usagi looked down as Luna reached for a bag of chips.

"You should still come, I have an extra ticket. My sister Rui is playing!"

Slamming her hands onto the bed, Usagi leaned close to her. "You never told me you had a sister!"

"Calm down!" Naru pleaded, waving her hands in front of her. "It's a figure of speech, I just mean we're really close, like sisters." she shrugged it off and dug a hand into her pocket, pulling out a small pink ticket stub.

"Oh..." Usagi took the stub and looked it over. "What time?"

"It starts around one, so we should leave by noon."

Luna cleared her throat loud enough for the girls to realize she wanted their attention. "If you two are done getting sidetracked, I'd like to set up a plan for the day. Naru, whether you like it or not, you're now involved in this." Naru's eyes changed from their usually gleeful state to something mixed with confusion and terror.

"I hate to bring civilians into this, but being so close to Warrior Moon," she glanced to Usagi. "your safety is important, now more than ever."

"So what?" Usagi asked plainly.

"I'd like her to meet Minako and Makoto, formally as their Warrior identities and get her a phone, so she can make instant contact with one of us if something happens." Luna answered and looked to Naru who gave a nod of understanding. "So call Makoto and have her meet you at the hospital. I'll head to HQ to report in and meet you both there later. When we're all together we'll discuss our next move."

* * *

In the dank depths of Beryl's lair, she sat in her throne, moving her hands meticulously over her orb. She gazed into the ball while she observed the activation of several Experiments in Europe. From the darkness that covered the far end of her chamber emerged Nephrite, dressed in a grey military style uniform with golden thread accents.

His greeting to his Queen took the form of kneeling before she granted him permission to speak. "What news do you bring?"

"My Queen, my preparations are complete for picking up where Jadeite left off. Gathering energy from humans won't be a problem now." Nephrite said.

"Oh?"

"He was foolish to think draining energy from random humans would get the best results." Nephrite continued. "But by consulting the stars I am able to determine who will offer us the most energy and can drain them at _just _the right moment."

"Do you have targets in mind?" Beryl asked, looking into the orb again.

"Several." Nephrite growled in excited. "A few I've been watching in North America, as well as in Japan. One of them I've already infected and will be drained soon. I'd like to see the Guard, or their Warrior brats, stop us on a global level."

"I see." Beryl nodded in understanding while she continued to gaze into her orb. "Will you be requiring additional resources for your mission?"

Nephrite glanced behind him to the wall of darkness, behind which he knew a hoard of Youma and Experiments lay in wait for an order. "Not yet, I think our enemies will have their hands full already with what I have planned."

"Is that so?" Beryl asked skeptically.

"Yes my Queen, I've already assembled a team of Youma I feel can gather sufficient energy and have briefed them on my plan. Thanks to Apatite they have able to infiltrate the city undetected, they are waiting for my orders."

"I understand. Well, I shall leave it in your hands." Beryl said with some skepticism.

Nephrite nodded to her before his legs became one with the stone floor and he sank through it.

As darkness overwhelmed him, an unknown feeling of tugging started in his head. Nephrite felt himself losing focus on his destination and struggled to gain control. Soon after he felt pressed very hard from each direction; he couldn't move or react. He then felt as if his body was being smashed, flat like paper and being slipped through a tube. As the compression on his body ended he felt his eyes burn and ears pop before he fell and landed hard against a cold floor.

"Welcome, Nephrite."

The man narrowed his eyes at the person before him, Zoisite. As he rose to his feet he took in his surroundings, Zoisite's bedroom filled with crude drawings of the male form and less than masculine furniture.

"If you ever interfere with my teleportation again –" Nephrite threatened but Zoisite waved him off.

"Or what? You're just like a small dog Nephrite, all bark – no bite." Zoisite teased, circling the man before nipping at his ear.

"What do you want?" Nephrite growled.

Zoisite was perhaps his least favorite person to work with, let alone be around. He could always feel his green eyes tracing his body, silently undressing him. As the man circled him he caught a whiff of the man's signature floral scent coming off his grey and green suit and his strawberry blonde hair. How Kunzite put up with him he'd never understand.

"I wanted to work with you on Queen Beryl's quest for energy." Zoisite stated.

"Absolutely not." Nephrite stared daggers into the man; he should have seen this coming. "I don't need a sidekick."

"You surely can't do this on your own, Jadeite couldn't. It would be embarrassing to have another one of us taken down by those girls."

"Jadeite was a fool!" Nephrite bayed; insulted Zoisite would compare the two of them.

"Oh, how scary." Zoisite smile and shook his finger in a disapproving way.

"Stay out of this Zoisite, I'm warning you." Nephrite turned to glare at the man who was still circling him. "You'll have your turn and when it comes I'm sure you'll throw yourself at Queen Beryl's feet when she calls upon you."

"And when that time comes you'll see how wrong you were to turn me down." Zoisite hummed before placing a hand onto Nephrite's back. Before the man could react, he felt himself behind forced from the room before he reappeared on a deserted freeway.

Furrowing his brow he glanced around his surroundings until he caught sight of an overpass sign.

_Tokyo 50 miles_

"Bastard."

* * *

"Mako! I didn't know you were such a good cook." Minako bubbled before she popped her seventh stuffed dumpling into her mouth. "They're delicious!"

The girls had turned Minako's day in the hospital into a mini-picnic. Makoto had prepared some of the girls' favorite foods for the day, and Usagi spent all of her leftover change on drinks for them all. Each of the girls found a comfortable spot on Minako's bed to sit with their smorgasbord of food between them all.

Naru sat at the foot of the bed, nibbling on one of the dumplings with her wide eyes trained on Minako. Entering the hospital room she nearly fainted at the sight of her. As she collapsed into Usagi's arms the girl cried that she never imagined she'd be bringing food to Sailor V.

"So, when's Luna getting here?" Makoto asked.

"Actually…" Usagi hummed. "She never said a time. Just after she had checked in with the Guard she said she'd meet us here."

"I'm in no rush, I'm enjoying this." Minako muttered behind another dumpling and Naru nodded her head aggressively in agreement.

"So let me get this straight." Naru stated. "Venus and Jupiter." She pointed her pinky and index fingers to the girls. "And Usagi you're Moon, how come you don't have a planet name?"

"Because, I am the leader of the Cosmic Warriors and therefore I get a special name!" Usagi asserted.

"Stop lying, Usagi." Minako groaned.

"Warrior Earth sounds like a silly name anyway." Usagi whimpered. "I wouldn't want it!"

"Wow…" Naru breathed.

"Hey Usagi! Those are my dumplings, get your paws off!" Minako barked as she watched Usagi's greedy hands sneak over to her plate of treats.

"But you've had so many!" Usagi whined as Minako sat up in her bed and raised the plate above her head.

"Relax guys, there's plenty more." Makoto noted and revealed another plate of them.

"I hope there's some left for us." From the doorway came Artemis' voice and each of the girls craned their necks to look at who else was with him.

Standing behind him was Luna and behind her Rei. Each of them filed into the room and after a quick introduction found a comfortable place to sit.

"I can't believe I never saw you as the next Warrior." Rei admitted to Makoto.

Before Makoto could respond Usagi threw herself into the conversation. "I can't believe Luna brought you."

Rei's jaw dropped and she shot up from her seat, bumping foreheads with Usagi and snarled at the girl. "What was that?"

"I said, I can't believe Luna brought you! You're useless!" Usagi whined as she rubbed her throbbing head.

"Calm down Usagi." Luna requested. "Rei will be acting as Naru's bodyguard for a while." Naru's eyes opened wide at that, glancing to Rei who was too busy jabbing Usagi in the chest to notice. "We need to keep her safe, but we also need you girls to be available at a moment's notice, so for now Rei will keep a watch over Naru until the Guard can organize a detailed guard schedule.

"I think I'd feel better about that if she had a rent-a-cop instead of her!" Usagi barked at Rei once the girl had sat back down.

"Rei is perfectly capable for this assignment." Artemis interjected. "Being a part of the Guard gives her not only the strength, but the resources to handle just about anything. Also she's great at detecting evil."

"Thank you Artemis." Rei said.

"Not that great," Usagi mumbled. "she couldn't tell the difference between me and the real evil standing five feet away…"

"I didn't have a problem figuring out who was who! Your giant forehead just got in the way when I was aiming for him!" Rei stormed and threw out an accusing finger to Usagi.

Soon the girls were back in each other's face, waggling their tongues at each other while the others in the room all watched in horror, afraid a fist fight might start at any moment.

"Ahem." Luna coughed into her hand a few times before getting the girls' attention. "If you're done acting like children, I'd like to go over what happened last night."

Reluctantly Usagi and Rei dropped back into their seats. Artemis then went to close and secure the door to the room and the windows before Luna began her briefing.

"There isn't too much about it that you shouldn't already know…" Luna mumbled while flipping through a manila folder. "The Guard found that the lights seemed to originate from the North West, but that doesn't help us much."

"Somewhere North West of Tokyo?" Makoto asked.

"Yes, we're working on finding the distance they had been traveling based on their speed, but that could take a while." Artemis answered before he looked to Luna for her to continue.

"All of their bodies were taken from the scene and there weren't any traces of them left by the time our investigators arrived."

"I have a question." Minako announced with a raised hand. "That _thing _that came out of the sky and collected the bodies, do you know what that was?" The eyes in the room then shifted from Minako back to Luna.

"No, it's safe to assume it's someone that is a part of the Dark Kingdom, but other than that we have no new leads." Luna answered before tugging several thick packets from a bag sitting by her feet. "Here, it's the list of known Dark Kingdom members, look them over and see if anyone looks familiar." Artemis tossed each of the girls a packet and they all began to flip through them.

"There's like, a billion people in this thing." Usagi whined and flipped through the first five pages without really looking at anyone's face.

"There are a lot of suspects." Artemis said.

"It's too bad Ami isn't here." Naru said offhandedly and caught everyone's attention. "I mean, she's really smart. I'm sure she would be able to figure it out somehow."

At the mention of the Mizuno girl Luna and Artemis cast each other troubled looks that didn't go unnoticed by Usagi.

"He's kinda cute…" Naru sang stopping at the picture of a man with thick and long brown hair.

"What page?" Usagi demanded.

"The fourth one." Naru leaned across the bed and stabbed a finger down onto the picture she mentioned.

"Ew, he's old Naru, gross." Usagi scrunched up her face at the man in the picture. "What's his name…" Usagi tapped a finger under the picture over the number 95 and flipped to the last page of the packet, where a list of names that went along with the numbers was. "Nephrite."

After noticing Rei had been looking over each page with careful attention to each of the photos, Artemis tapped her on the shoulder. "Any face jump out to you?"

The girl shook her head and closed the packet. "Nothing yet, but I'll try again tonight at the shrine."

"It's four o'clock!" Makoto exclaimed, snatching up the remote control.

"So?" Usagi asked innocently.

"The news Usagi." Makoto retorted before turning on a small brown television that was placed on a shelf across the room. She tapped the buttons on the remote to find the right channel and to make it loud enough for them.

"Think it'll be about last night?" Naru asked skeptically.

"It looks like they're airing it on every channel." Minako said and Makoto paused before clicking back, every channel was showing the same logo of the local news station.

"We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this special bulletin."

As the logo vanished an older gentleman in a suit appeared on screen, standing on a street that overlooked the park. In the room each of them tensed up in their seats, Luna more than anyone, waiting for the report to start.

"Yesterday afternoon, at around 7:30 pm, several unidentified flying objects, which at this time can only be described as meteorites, were spotting flying over Minato. Several reports were called in of these objects and many claimed they would chase them until they landed."

The group watched as the man was blocked by a grey box that showed grainy video of a blue light zipping through the sky before crashing down into the ground. Makoto watched the screen intently, knowing what had come from that light soon after.

"Although no official statement has been made on the meteorites, explanations to the other strange events that occurred last night have been confirmed. In a run-down neighborhood of Moto-Azabu many _chasers_, as they're called, stumbled upon a wild and abnormal amount of overgrowth.

Minako stiffened in bed watching a small box appear beside the man's head, showing a panoramic view of the neighborhood. "That's where I was." she said over the man talking as the video shifted to the homes before pausing on one that had been overgrown with weeds and vines. In the front yard were several men going at a large tree with a chainsaws.

"One of the major highways leading to Minato was destroyed last night as well. It is believed to be caused by the impact the meteorite upon landing."

"Whoa." Usagi gasped.

"However, Juuban Park, in the Azabu-Juuban distract, seemed to be the center of all the chaos." The reporter turned to his side and gestured out behind him, showing off the police taped park.

Pacing around and through the park the girls could see numerous police officers and crime scene investigators. "In the northern area of the park, a water fountain had ruptured and caused the ground around it to flood, leaving the park closed until the problem is fixed. However in the center of the park is where the most damage was sustained."

Again the video box changed and showed a shot of the park grounds, the car Luna had stolen still remained there, now charred and being torn apart. Across the ground there were many holes, chunks of debris, and scorch marks. As the camera panned out Usagi gasped again, now at the trees that were leaning heavily to the side.

"The most puzzling piece of evidence though, is this crater." The reporter appeared again, now inside the park and walking past police officers before stopping in front of a sunken in hole in the ground. "No word yet on what could have made this hole, but from the size of it, it must have been something massive. Experts claim the meteorite that landed here would have had to been the size of a small home to create such a dent."

Holding up the remote Makoto muted the television as the man began to walk around the crater. "So..." she said.

"How is it Luna?" asked Minako.

"Better than I hoped." Luna admitted with a sigh of relief. "When I heard what was in the paper this morning I was concerned that someone may have been holding back information, trying to rattle the Guard. But it seems that was just what they could get published overnight. This news report seems to be verifiable."

"So we're in the clear? Usagi asked.

"For now." Artemis retorted. "But we've got to be more careful. Unlike our enemy we can't swoop out of the sky and pick up our people."

"We ride out in style." Minako said coolly, moving her hands like she was riding a motorcycle.

"Tuxedo Mask!" Usagi's thought escaped from her mouth when she glanced back to the television. On the screen was the sharp dressed thief leaping up from out of the park, and dashing across the street. "Mako turn it up!" Usagi cried before she reached for the remote.

"Okay, calm down!" Makoto groaned before jabbing the volume button and the audio returned to the report.

"We'll bring you more news and updates on the situation at eleven."

Instantly the screen flashed to black before the screen came to life with a cartoon of a man with pointed blonde hair flying through a sea foam green sky.

"We missed it!" Usagi whined.

"I wonder what they said..." Minako pondered.

"That he's a no good jewel thief." Rei stated as she dropped back in her chair and crossed her arms. "They should just lock him up."

"Geez Rei, tell us how you really feel." Makoto started. "You sound like he hurt you, personally."

"I just don't trust him." The shrine miko shrugged. "He's always popping up and stealing whatever he wants, but never wants to pay for the consequences of his actions."

"He's alright in my book." Naru stated. "He fought with Usagi once, they saved me."

"What do you guys know about him?" Makoto asked as she leaned back, catching the gaze of the two Protectors.

Artemis furrowed his ivory brows while he looked to Luna, trying to find an instance when Tuxedo Mask had caused him or the Guard any trouble.

"He's hasn't been a nuisance to us." Luna responded. "Quite the opposite, since he has shown up to aid Warrior Moon a few times now."

"Looks like whatever grudge Rei has is personal." Usagi prodded, making a snooty face at her.

"He's a dirty thief! You should listen to me and stay away from him Usagi, if you know what's good for you." Rei barked back and jabbed a finger at the blonde.

"You almost poked my eye out!" Usagi whined. "Luna, did you see that?!

"Girls knock it off." Luna grumbled.

* * *

Hours later at the Tsukino home, Usagi was rummaging through the kitchen when she heard the sound of the family's television turn on.

"You're spending the night again Luna?" Usagi asked as she entered the living room, a bowl of chips tucked under one arm, to find the woman sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"Does it bother you?" She quipped while she scooted closer to the television, clicking through the channels.

"Well, no. But how many excuses are you going to feed my mom?" Usagi asked quietly, for fear her mother might be hiding nearby.

"No one would know if I slept in my feline form." Luna suggested before stopping on a news channel that was showing a still frame of the park.

"The news, again?" Usagi groaned before sliding onto the couch and tossing a handful of chips into her mouth.

"I wanted to see if any new statements were going to be released." Luna said while she turned the volume up, the voice of a woman coming in louder with each click.

"I'm standing here in Juuban Park that was the scene of a murder just a few hours ago. Joggers nearby said they heard several cries for help followed by an indescribable scream." Luna glanced back to Usagi who looked terrified by the news and soon crawled over to the woman. "After searching through the park and finding what they described as a "bloodbath" the two witnesses called 1-1-0. Police arrived shortly after and launched a full investigation. Back to you Ai."

The woman nodded to the camera before she was split screened with another woman who was sitting behind a desk in a news station. "Thank you Kiomi." Ai smiled before her screen was expanded before a small black box appeared in the top right corner of the screen, in it a picture of a young girl. "The body of the victim has been identified as fourteen year old Hikaru Sorano. According to the deceased's parents, Hikaru was on her way home from a friend's house and often used the park as a shortcut. The only current lead in this case is this man."

Ai stared into the camera while the image of Hikaru faded away only to be replaced with that of a man, wearing a black tuxedo, mask and top-hat.

"He is a known jewel thief who goes by the name, Tuxedo Mask. Although his list of charges includes theft, Tuxedo Mask has never been violent with police. One of the witnesses, a middle-school teacher named Haruna Sakurada, claimed to have seen the man fleeing the park with blood stained gloves in a rushed pace, Sakurada claims the man seemed deranged upon seeing her. If you have any news on the whereabouts of Tuxedo Mask, do not hesitate to call the police, he is considered extremely dang-"

Quickly Usagi switched off the television and dropped her arms into her lap. In the reflection of the black screen Luna watched the girl slump over onto the floor, it was faint at first, but she could hear her sobbing.

Between a heavy inhale and a whine Usagi muttered. "They're wrong, right Luna?"

Gently the woman placed a hand onto Usagi's back and sighed. "We can only hope so."

* * *

End of Chapter Fourteen**  
**

* * *

Next, Usagi and Naru enjoy a fun day watching a tennis match, but the days of respite may be over as another murder occurs in Juuban Park. Is Tuxedo Mask really to blame, and what history does Minako have with him? Individuals under Beryl's command are operating behind her back, what are they up to? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Fifteen - Love is 0**


	15. Love is 0

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about.

**Note:** I can't remember who, but a while ago someone suggested I show some history between Sailor V and Tuxedo Mask; so it's time for show and tell. I created a little scenario for them that could have easily become its own chapter or a one-shot. Also, I have no clue how to play tennis, so thank you Wikipedia for making the rules easy to look up. Hope you enjoy.

**Review Note - DonovanX: **Glad the chapter wasn't too dull for you.

* * *

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN - Love Is 0**

* * *

Although the news from last night had Usagi feeling down, she decided early on it she wouldn't let it affect her plans.

It was the first time since Naru's attack that the two were going to hang out, like old times, and relax. Although the city had been in panic recently, the Guard hadn't noticed anything that required her attention.

For the tennis match Usagi donned a purple skirt, pale pink short-sleeve shirt and white flats. She waited outside on the sidewalk until Naru appeared at the corner. Once they were on their way to the match Usagi kept the conversation light. She neglected to ask if Naru had watched any more of the news yesterday, bringing up the murder in the park never even crossed her mind.

When they arrived at the tennis club there were already hoards of people running about, watching different matches and trying to find when the next court would be open.

"It's a zoo in here." Usagi said before leaping out of the way of a man that dashed across her path, unaware he nearly stepped on her feet.

"I know! Must be some good matches happening today!" Naru sang with excitement. "I can't wait to see Rui play."

"So, how did you say you met her?" Usagi asked, still not past the fact Naru referred to her as her sister.

"Our mothers are good friends, so we always played together." Naru answered as they laced arms and tried to find the court Rui would be playing on. "She even taught me a few things about tennis, so if you get confused during the match, I can help you understand."

"Ahh."

"Oh, Usagi there it is!" Naru gasped and pointed towards a fenced off area. "Court D! Let's go, I don't wanna miss even a second of it!" Naru yanked on her friend who spotted a child with cotton candy.

"Ite... Naru don't be so rough!" Usagi whined feeling a slight pain in her shoulder as she was dragged off towards the court.

"Yup this is it, Rui versus Tensuni." Naru said reading off a cardboard slip that was stuck in the fence.

The match was one of the last of the day and the club was already filled with buzzing people and with courts placed nearly side by side, it only took a minute for the crowd observing Court C to move to D.

Soon seeing through the fence became impossible as the watchers formed a wall around all sides, even the stands were filling fast and the match hadn't even begun. Naru and Usagi found their seats, nestled in the middle of the bleachers and facing the court's side.

"These are great seats!" Naru stated.

"If you say so..." Usagi said skeptically, Naru wasn't the one sitting beside an elderly woman who smelled as if she'd bathed in her perfume, and decided to put on every piece of jewelry. Whenever the woman would shift in her seat the glare from her necklace momentarily blinded the girl.

"Naru, what's Rui's last name?" Usagi asked before the referee picked up his megaphone and announced it for the entire court to hear.

"Saionji to serve!"

Rui tossed the ball up and served it right down the center of the court. Tensuni returned the ball easily, and as expected, a rally began.

"What is she wearing?"

"It looks like a Halloween costume."

"Do people really play tennis in things like that?"

Although she didn't want to take her eyes off the game, Usagi wanted to know who was talking behind her. Slowly Usagi craned her neck around to look at a group of women who were chatting about Tensuni's choice of clothes for her match.

"Oh sorry dear, were we being too loud?" One of them giggled.

"No, you're fine." Usagi lied before turning back around to catch Rui send the ball back.

"They're right." Naru said. "Her outfit is crazy."

Rui's opponent, Tensuni, was wearing an all-black one piece outfit with red shoulder pads, and hanging from her ears were long red earrings. Compared to Rui, dressed in a simple and classic white polo and skirt with tennis shoes, the woman looked like a freak show.

"How come Rui keeps sending the ball down the middle?" Usagi asked after watching Rui sprint from one side of the court to the next to send back the ball, only to send it at her in a straight line. Tensuni hadn't done much moving since the match began and although she didn't know much about the game, Usagi knew Rui would tire herself out like this.

"That's her play style." Naru told her. "She's testing her opponent's power and mental capability. Rui knows her opponent is thinking just like you, wondering why she won't do anything fancy and she keeps running around. But really, I think it makes more skill to send the ball back into the center every time like that."

Naru watched Rui send the ball back over with a harder hit than before.

"She wants her opponent to underestimate her, thinking she's getting tired so she can bring out her full power when they let their guard down."

"All that work for a tennis match?" Usagi griped.

As Rui sent back the ball from her spot in the right side of the court, Tensui swung her racket, noting that the left court was empty. With precision, she aimed the shot so it would end up as far away from Rui as possible. The girl was obviously skilled, but she wouldn't be able to make it across the court in time.

The moment Tensuni's racket hit the ball Rui pivoted on the balls of her feet and darted to the opposite side. Reaching the left side not only ahead of the ball, but with enough time to send the ball back over with a crosscourt. Tensuni's eyes narrowed as she watched the ball fly back across at an odd angle, and although she lunged to hit it, the ball grazed the edge of the court.

"Fifteen – Love." The referee called out.

"Woo! Go big sis!" Naru cheered and Usagi clapped along with the rest of the crowd that rooted for Rui.

The pale-skinned Tensui spun her racket in her hand before she tightened her grip on it. "She tried to play me for a fool..." she said to herself.

Rui served again, but another rally didn't begin as Tensui sent the ball flying back over the net almost as soon as it had crossed the first time. Rui panicked seeing the ball fly at her with such speed and lunged to the side.

"Fifteen – Fifteen."

"Whoa, she's good." Usagi gasped and watched Rui pull herself off the ground.

Tensuni served and nearly caused Rui to hit the desk again with the speed of the ball, but Rui was determined not to give her any more points. Instead the girl jumped back and sent the ball back over and began a rally.

Tensuni quickly returned the ball, sending it flying to the right, aiming for the empty left side of the court. But like before Rui rushed to it and sent it back over, just like before at an odd angle that got her the first point. Tensuni made quick work closing the distance between her and the left side of the court and spun around, her back to Rui, back hitting the ball backhanded.

"No way!" Naru shot up from her seat.

"Wha?" Usagi asked. "Did she do something special?"

"No one's does a backhand like that!"

Although she was taken aback by the flashiness of her move, Rui took advantage of the ball's angle and also backhanded it, sending it back almost exactly the way it came. With her back still to Rui, Tensuni spun around and cocked her body to the side, and hit the ball with an intense force.

Rui prepared to return it but saw the wall spiraling towards her and coming more for her wrist than the racket. Sacrificing the hit she lunged to the side and let the ball on a warpath whiz past her.

"Thirty – Fifteen."

"C'mon Rui, you can do it..." Naru said through gritted teeth.

"You sure are getting worked up Naru." Usagi said and watched Naru's leg begin to shake.

"I just want Rui to do really well!"

Tensuni served again, this time with an overhead that left Rui no time to react as the ball flew past her again.

"Forty – Fifteen."

"Noo!" Naru cried.

Rui swore under her breath as Tensuni served again, another overhead that flew over the net with such speed the wind following it caused the net to shake. Rui opened her eyes wide realizing the ball was coming straight for her and brought her racket over her chest in an attempt to lob it. But the ball stuck her racket hard, with enough force to knock her off her feet and send her stumbling out of the court.

"Rui!" Naru shouted. "That was dirty!"

"Game, Tensuni. One game to fifteen."

After the first game it seemed Rui wouldn't recover her stride, as Naru put it Tensuni's powerful strike had thrown off her concentration and anything she did now would simply be not to get hit again. So when the referee called the end of the third match, it was no surprise to the crowd.

"Game, Tensuni. Three games to fifteen, change court!"

"That Tensuni girl is something else." Usagi mumbled while tearing off a piece of a pretzel she'd bought.

"Yeah... I hope Rui can come back in the next game." Naru sighed, knowing it was unlikely.

"When's the next match starting?" Usagi asked as she moved out from under the canopy of the building they were under to find a clock.

"Five minutes, we should probably head back to the court."

After relocating to the bleachers the girls prepared for the second half of the match. Tensuni served and to everyone's surprise scored immediately on Rui who seemed frightened of the ball. Naru was being frustrated now, she wanted Rui to serve because she knew that was when she could regain control of the game, but Tensuni was relentless in her overhand serves. Each one came at Rui faster than the last and the woman never showed signs of tiring.

"Game, set, match, Tensuni -"

Usagi hadn't heard the referee after that as Naru balled up her fists and began to yell in her ear. "That girl should be disqualified! She's like a full-grown woman; look at how tall she is. She could be a man for all we know! Kick her out!" she began chanting.

Usagi tried to inch away from Naru as the people around them began to pay more attention to the girl as she got louder and louder.

"C'mon Usagi! Let's go talk to that behemoth!" Naru bayed and snatched up her wrist, and was soon dragging her down the bleachers.

"No! Naru I don't think we should!"

Down on the court, as Tensuni was preparing to leave Rui rushed under the net and over to the woman. "Excuse me!"

Tensuni smirked before turning to face the girl. "Did you need something?"

"Well, I was a little curious who your sponsor is." Rui stated. "I've never heard of you until I saw the match-ups for today's game. I mean, I usually have some idea who I'm facing before I get on the court."

"Are you upset you lost to an unknown player?" Tensuni cackled and Rui furrowed her eyebrows at that.

"I'm just asking, you don't have to be rude!"

"My sponsor is over there." Tensuni stated and pointed to the fence with her racket, specifically to a man pressed against it.

Dressed in cream coloured pressed slacks and an off-yellow shirt under a blue sports jacket, a man stood leaning against the fence black sunglasses concealing his eyes.

From a distance Rui could see his had long thick brown hair that seemed to shine in the afternoon sun. With a slight tilt of his head he caught sight of Tensuni and backed up from the fence.

As Naru and Usagi ran onto the court the sponsor crouched down before leaping and clearing the fence in a single bound. He landed on the other side in a slightly crouched position before he strode over to Tensuni and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Did you see that?!" Usagi asked Naru, who was in awe because she had, in fact, seen it.

"You played well," the man said. "you both did." He quickly did away with his sunglasses and cast Rui a charming smile.

The girl flushed and swung her racket around behind her back in embarrassment. "I wouldn't call only scoring once playing well, but thank you..."

"Tensuni's got a killer overhand." he said and the woman nodded.

"I learned from the best."

"He taught you?" Rui asked and again Tensuni nodded. "Wow, I wish I could have a sponsor like you..." she muttered.

"Then let's make it happen." He dug a hand into his pocket before pulling out a small business card and extending it to Rui.

"Masato Sanjouin, tennis coach, instructor, and sponsor." Rui read before turning it over and finding his phone number printed on the back.

"Give me a call if you want to set up a meeting. In the meantime I think it would be a good idea for you two to play each other more often." Masato offered, waving his hands at the two girls. "It would give you a better idea of the caliber my clients play at."

"I would love to!" Rui gasped, her cheeks turning red, Tensuni smiled knowingly at her.

"Excuse me!" Naru shouted rushing to the trio from the other side of the court. "I couldn't help but overhear you say you're her manager! What's the big idea letting her play so rough like that?" Naru slapped Masato on his arm and then laced arms with Rui.

"N – Naru, it's okay." Rui said.

Masato glanced to the spot Naru had hit. "That's just how my players play. Rui doesn't seem to mind."

"It's fine really Naru, I just wasn't ready for that kind of power, but I think if we play more I'll get used to it." Rui beamed and looked at the business card again. "I can't wait to learn from you!

Masato winked at her before giving Naru the same smile he gave Rui. Naru felt her cheeks heat up after seeing the man head on, he was gorgeous.

"I'm in town for a few more days, try and get as much playing time in with each other that you can and we can meet up before I leave." Masato suggested as he walked back to the fence, leaping over and landing on the other side.

"How does he do that...?" Usagi wondered from the edge of the court where Naru had left her.

"Are you free to get some more practice in? I promise to go easy." Tensuni teased.

Rui smiled at her before nodding. "I've got plenty of time. Naru, do you want to stay and watch some more?"

Naru blinked curiously, she expected Rui to be defeated after her loss, not asking for more. "Sure, I'll stay. Usagi, I'm staying!" She shouted out across the court.

"Whaaaaat?!" Usagi groaned and began fanning herself.

"You can leave if you want; I'll see you at school tomorrow!"

And that's exactly what she did. Usagi bought another pretzel from the vendor and headed home. As much as she enjoyed being with Naru, spending the day in the muggy heat watching a game she didn't understand wasn't her idea of a good time.

* * *

The following day after school all of the girls had camped out in Usagi's dining room and were splitting their time between homework and gossip.

"How was the tennis match?" Makoto asked as she scribbled down the name of a recipe she wanted to try.

"It was alright, tennis isn't really my thing though." Usagi said. "Naru got into it."

Naru nodded to Makoto. "I've always liked it, ever since Rui taught me how to play when we were younger. You should have stayed Usagi, she and Tensuni stayed late playing. I've never seen her put so much into it before."

"I'm glad you liked it." Usagi answered while erasing a division answer she knew was wrong.

"Even though Rui lost that match she still has a good chance to make it in a local tournament, she said she'd get us more tickets if she does. We can all go next time!"

"Sounds cool." Makoto said and Minako nodded in agreement.

"Is that Tensuni girl going to be there?" asked Usagi.

Naru let out a huff of air before resting her head on her fist. "Probably..." she sighed. "I hate to admit, but she's good."

"I saw that girl in the paper this morning." Minako added with the look of disgust. "Her outfit was terrible..."

"Is that all you care about Minako, fashion?" Makoto asked.

"And boys." Minako answered while biting down on her pencil eraser.

"Speaking of boys, Naru." Usagi cooed. "How's Masato?"

Naru slapped her hands onto her hips and gave Usagi a silly grin. "Don't do that Usagi." Naru had spent most of their class time passing notes with Usagi about Masato, describing his features and telling her show beautifully handsome he was.

"Who's that?" Minako asked skeptically while she popped one of Makoto's dumplings into her mouth.

"Tensuni's tennis sponsor and coach." Usagi answered. "According to Naru he's – what was the phrase you used Naru? Sex on legs?"

Makoto went bug eyed and spewed out her juice across the table, spraying Minako in the process. Naru went red as a tomato. Usagi rocked back and forth in her chair, enjoying not only Naru's reaction, but relishing in Makoto's surprise as well.

"Mako that's disgusting!" Minako whined as she tried to wipe her face clear of it. "IT'S IN MY HAIR!"

"C – C'mon Minako, I'll help you get cleaned up." Naru stammered as she got up from the table, any excuse to leave the room right now.

As Makoto started cleaning up the mess she'd made on the table, Usagi was still cackling in her chair, on her way to slipping out of it and ending up on the floor.

"It wasn't that funny, Usagi..." Makoto blushed.

"It was perfect! She told me that in class, I've been holding in that laugh ever since!"

Makoto's cheeks continued to burn as she ran a cloth around the table. "He is really that good looking?"

"I guess so," she replied and wiped the corners of her eyes for tears. "I didn't see him up close, but he sure can jump..."

"Usagi, since you asked Naru about a boy. I want to ask you about one." Makoto stated, folding her arms on the table and leaning in close to Usagi.

Usagi cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at Makoto. "Don't tell me, you're ex-boyfriend wants you back?" She had seen this scene many times in movies.

"No, no! I want to know about Tuxedo Mask."

The mention of his name sent a chill down her spine and caused her hand to spasm, sending her pencil flying across the room. "Ah – haha! Tuxedo Mask... Well, uhh... You see, that's complicated." Usagi muttered while she tapped her fingers together.

"How so? You like him don't you?"

Usagi gripped her chair and scooted closer to Makoto to whisper. "I didn't tell Naru, or even Minako, but there was a murder in the park yesterday." Makoto jumped back from Usagi after hearing that, as if the news itself were going to bite her. "That's not all, they said Mask is the lead suspect!" she hissed.

"Could he really have done it?"

Usagi gave her a big shrug. "I hope not, but I mean accidents can happen right...?"

"I guess so, but if it was an accident he should turn himself in..." Makoto pondered. "But then again, he's a thief, so maybe he's avoiding it to avoid being sent to jail either way."

Usagi slumped over in her seat and rested her head on the table. "I hope it's not true..." She'd been keeping a few things secret from the girls lately. One of them was a dream she had involving her, Tuxedo Mask and a hot tub.

"I bet they're still running the story on him!" Makoto shouted as she shot up from her chair and headed to the living room.

"Ahh – Mako wait!" Usagi stumbled after her and in the living room Makoto plopped down in front of the television and began to click through the channels before finding one of the many news reports.

"...streets of Azabu-Juuban are racked with panic now as a second body has shown up in the city's park after yesterday evening's murder."

"No way!" Makoto shouted and Usagi dropped down beside her.

"The call came in this morning of the body of a young boy found mutilated in the park, his body was cut into pieces and spread throughout the area, giving several morning walkers an unpleasant surprise. No new leads have come up in his case and the jewel thief, Tuxedo Mask, remains the police's number one suspect."

Usagi jabbed her finger on the power button and watched the screen fade to black before dropping back against the table. Makoto then quickly turned it back on and Usagi groaned at her.

"We should hear it all Usagi, there could be more to the story." Makoto offered.

"...police are also looking for thirty-nine year old park caretaker, Satoshi Kunitachi. Kunitachi went missing yesterday afternoon and hasn't been heard from since. Kunitachi is wanted for questioning, as the police believe he may have evidence pertaining to these two murders."

"This can't be happening." From the doorway came Minako's voice, she stood there with Naru. "Two murders in the park, within twenty-four hours?"

Usagi and Makoto spun around to look at the two, Usagi's eyes focused in on Naru who didn't seem fazed by the story. Minako crossed the room and eased herself down onto the couch and Naru followed after her.

"Tuxedo Mask is really their _only _lead?" Minako asked incredulously. "He may be a thief, but he's no murderer."

"You say that like you're his friend or something." Makoto said.

"Well, as a vigilante it was part of my job to stop people like him. We've crossed paths many times before, and he's not interested in hurting people, he just seems fixated on the jewels and nothing else. I just find it hard to believe he'd all of a sudden turn into a murderer."

Usagi looked at her hands while she replayed Mask's words in her head.

"_All I want is the crystal. And I'll dispose of anyone who gets in my way of it."_

The words resonated through her, and the probability that Tuxedo Mask could be a killer became higher in her opinion.

"I remember the first time I met him." Minako stated and all eyes in the room fell on her. "It was in Washington last year; I thought he was just a regular guy at first, but boy was I wrong." She laughed out loud and caught the other girls off guard who only chuckled back nervously. "It was late spring and I had been invited to a party for the arrival of the Queen of England to the White House."

* * *

It wasn't often regular people get invited to events like this. But being Sailor V, Minako had helped out the right people, at the right time. One thing led to another and before she knew it, she ended up on the arm of a young congressman. She wore a floor length yellow gown with lighter yellow frills running down the length of it. Even if it was only for one night, wanted to feel like a princess.

She stayed by her date's side for most of the night until he had one too many glasses of champagne. She watched his so sophistication vanish like the bubbles in his glass.

Determined not to let him ruin her evening, she ditched him in one of the hallways and made her way as a single lady to the ballroom.

It was a wide open space filled with couples who were dancing elegantly with each other. She watched in awe at the beautiful women in their gowns and their stunning gentleman, all of whom seemed to be masters at dancing.

As she made her way into the center of the room, she realized to take full of advantage of the night she'd have to dance, which wasn't something she was worried about. But she'd abandoned her date and would need to find a last minute replacement, perhaps another single congressman or a lawyer, either way it needed to be someone who knew how to hold his alcohol. Elegantly, Minako began to cross the room while blue eyes scanned around for an eligible dance partner.

A young man with short jet black hair and deep blue eyes stood on edge of a radio tower ten yards away from the White House. He stood carefully balanced on the guard railing with a thin metal beam at his back. Through a Phantom of the Opera style mask that only left his mouth exposed; he gazed out at the landscape below him, marveling at how tight the security was.

Although he had been in Washington for a few months and seen the president numerous times, never did he imagine security to this extent.

From his perch he could see blocks filled with black vans that he assumed came with tinted windows and bullet proof siding. Moving through the grounds were bulky men dressed in tuxedos and armed men with dogs. He was sure inside the house would have a similar kind of security, albeit, not as obvious.

"You ready yet M?" A voice asked to him directly. M touched a gloved hand to his ear before responding.

"Yeah, I'm all set." He glanced to a black duffel bag he had balancing on the railing beside him. Slowly he crouched and began to unzip it, pulling a thick collection of rope from it along with a four-pronged hook. "Where do you want me swinging this thing?" He asked as he undid the knot that kept the rope together and practiced swinging the hook around.

"Keep your eyes on the coop, once B is in place he'll show you a signal." M's eyes scanned the White House, or the coop as the man on the other end of his earpiece referred to it as. Affectionately so, because of the gem they'd come here tonight to steal. A brown topaz egg, close to 5000 carats and worth nearly 4,000 American dollars.

Feeling like his life was destined to remain in a rut the way he lived in it in Japan, M had joined a small gang at the age of fourteen. Together they pulled off numerous small crimes, robbing stores and pickpocketing. One day while counting their loot they realized they'd snatched someone's diamond engagement ring.

Jewels by themselves were beautiful, but there was something about the way that stolen ring shone that intrigued M. He'd never told his partners in crime, but ever since he was young he had dreamt of a beautiful woman visiting him at night, calling out to him, but he was never able to help her. He searched for the answer to the best of his ability, but nothing seemed to aid him. That is until the woman showed him a vision of a jagged cut spherical gem, she called it the Silver Crystal.

The Crystal was the most beautiful gem he'd seen, even if it wasn't cut perfectly, it stood out to him more than any other. That night the same woman came to him, asking for the Crystal again.

It had been his personal mission since then to find that Crystal with the hopes of understanding his dreams once and for all. After they managed to snag the ring and sell it, convincing the rest of the group the real money lied in stealing jewels was simple.

M smiled as he watched a dim flickering light appear on the balcony of the coop, time to shine. "I see him."

"Good, now swing the hook like I taught you and you should have no problem reaching B."

M nodded before he let some slack into the rope as he started to swing it again. He exhaled slowly before throwing his arm out and with it, the metal hook whizzed across the yard.

The radio tower was a perfect vantage point for this. High above the coop, so even if he overshot it, the odds were in his favor that the hook wouldn't catch on anything and would simply slide down to the balcony.

"Got it!" B called out through their headsets.

However, M was too confident in his skills to rely on such luck.

"Tell me when it's secure." M said back to B as he fished something else from the duffel, a black cloth that he folded over itself a few times.

"It's hooked, and the coast is clear." B said. "Can we start D?"

D was the "father" of their group. He recruited each of them and taught them all they knew.

"Go." D said.

M quickly threw the cloth over the rope, secured both hands in it before he kicked off the side of the tower. A moment later he was swaying side and to side as he slid down the length of the rope. Below him he could see clueless guards checking around trees for any party crasher. Didn't they know anything about being a thief?

M reached the other side only a minute later and dropped down onto the balcony with B. A boy not much older than himself with a two part mask that left his nose exposed. The boys nodded to each other before M began to tear away the disguise he was wearing.

A jumpsuit with a nearby electric company's logo on it was all he needed to get access to the radio tower, but that would surely hinder him in his plan to steal the egg. Underneath the dingy teal uniform M wore an ill-fitting black two-piece suit that he attempted to straighten out before leaving B behind and entering the party.

He had landed on a second level track that ran around the ballroom. Down below him golden lights were cast down on the party goers as they mingled and chasséd around the room. Compared to the gentlemen wearing custom made tuxedos, M knew he would stick out if anyone got the chance to get a good look at him. Lucky for him with everyone wearing masks, no one should be able to tell him apart from anyone else.

"There you are!" A voice called out, giggling like a child who'd stolen candy. "I was wondering where you'd gone off to."

M smiled, but kept his attention on the party. "I came for some fresh air."

"Oh." The woman chirped before M turned and met up with her before she came any closer, in fear of seeing B still on the balcony.

The woman was middle-aged wearing a dull pink dress with her hair pulled into a high bun. By her looks and the smell coming off her, M could tell whoever she thought he was, she must have lost him by the champagne table.

"You want to go back to the party honey?"

He hesitated before answering, and he knew this woman might be the wrong kind of accessory to get him through the room. The last thing he needed was a drunk who would make a fuss if he disagreed with her.

"I'd love to." He said and took her hand before leading her back around the track and towards a staircase that took them to the main floor.

"I think – I need another drink!" She whispered to him in a playful tone, as if it was some secret indulgence of hers.

"Of course dear, I'll get you one. Stay here." He said before backing away from her and blending into the crowd.

M sighed as he glanced around for a bobbing head carrying a tray of glasses. "I can already see why her date left her..." He mumbled before he felt something slide around his hand and yank him further in the crowd.

He heard a woman's soft laughter ahead of him, whoever was pulling him he didn't resist. It was unexpected, but overreacting in this environment would sabotage the entire mission.

Suddenly he was stopped, and in a frenzy of twirling women in gowns and their well-dressed suitors he felt a pair of dainty hands grab onto his. One cupped his right hand and pulled it out, the other plucked his left hand from his side and placed it onto someone's waist. Before he could focus on it all a head full of golden hair came to rest on his chest. "You're my date now, okay?"

M chuckled at her bravery. "Whatever you say." Slowly he began to dance with the woman, holding her hand gently as they two-stepped across the ballroom. "It's admirable, a woman making the first move like that. Admirable if not foolish, considering our surroundings."

His dance partner shrugged. "Almost as admirable as coming to a black tie event wearing a $50 suit. Or as foolish as breaking into said event from a second story balcony."

M felt himself tense up for a moment, but quickly decided to play along and continued their dance. Who the hell was this woman?

"Breaking in?" M asked curiously.

"Just because I'm a blonde doesn't mean you can outsmart me." she said. "Now spin me."

M was taken aback by the woman's composure and did as he was told. Swiftly he took a step back and raised their connected arms above her, allowing the woman the opportunity to spin and show off her gown before he pulled her back in, with an unnecessary amount of force.

"Oof!" She grunted as he forced her back into him.

"Who are you?" M demanded.

"Who are you?" she parroted.

M smiled and let out a hearty chuckle that resonated through his chest. "Ladies first."

"I'm a guest to this event." she responded plainly.

"And what about your name?" M asked.

She sighed. "Minako." She could spend all night in the arms of this man before they got anywhere if one of them didn't take the first step.

"Well Minako," M told her. "I don't know what you _think_ you saw, but it -"

Unexpectedly Minako pushed off from the man and glanced up to him with wide blue eyes. "I saw a man in a black suit waiting on the balcony for a few minutes before he attached something to the railing and then you appeared. You watched the party for a moment, probably to be sure no one was watching you, nice job by the way."

Minako spoke quickly and M could only focus on her glossy lips as they spun around. "You then pretended to be that woman's date even though I saw her in the hallway with a guy who was wearing completely different mask."

"Very observant." he replied. "So what now Minako?"

"Now's the part when you tell me your name."

"You can call me M."

"Is that what your partners call you?" Minako said harshly. "Tell me your real name." She looked to him with powerful eyes, silently daring him to lie to her.

M shook his head, rolling his eyes at her. "I'm telling you, that's my name."

"You're a bad liar." Minako countered.

"Oh?" M asked.

"So why you are here? Assassin, come to take someone out?" Minako asked before she looked him up and down. "No... Assassins dress better than that. How about terrorist? I can hear a bit of your Japanese accent. No, that doesn't work either, if you were a terrorist there'd be no need for you to be inside the White House to make your plan happen, let alone be so sneaky about it."

M chuckled again, suppressing his anxiety that was growing around this girl before twirling her around again. "I'm a thief." He finally whispered.

On the other end his headset B and D gasped hearing his confession.

Minako scoffed. "It's no fun when you give me the answer..."

"Oh, are you upset now?" M snapped.

"Only that the mystery is gone." She mumbled before resting her head back on his chest. "This jacket smells rank."

M rolled his eyes as the girl. "No one asked you to smell it."

"Listen M, if you're here to steal something you'll stick out like a sore finger if someone sees you dressed like a kid going to junior prom." Minako started. "Why don't I help you get cleaned up into something more appropriate?"

"Excuse me?"

"Come along." Minako quickly clamped a hand around his wrist and dragged him from the ballroom, through the halls of the White House to a small lounge area she had been in before. Draped across one of the couches was her previous date, grumbling about his finances.

With M's help Minako dragged the man into the men's bathroom where she began to strip him, leaving him with only his muscle shirt and boxers decorated with hearts.

Although she was only in her early teenage years Minako considered herself more mature than anyone her age. She'd seen a lot and been through more than any of her friends. So while M was watching the door and wondering what would happen if they were caught, Minako worked without pause.

"Here, put these on." She tossed the thief her date's clothes. "You can leave behind that monkey suit for him if you want to. I'll be waiting outside."

She quickly left M to it, he glanced to the unconscious man she'd propped again a wall before heading into the stall and switching into the man's clothes.

A few minutes later M emerged from the bathroom a new man. Dressed down in a double breasted midnight black tuxedo jacket and pressed slacks he felt like he belonged here now.

"No no." Minako barked before tugging on his jacket, undoing the gold buttons and exposing the white vest underneath, white dress shirt and white bow tie. "Much better."

"Thanks, I – I guess." He stuttered.

Minako caught that and smiled to him before picking a black hat up off the ground. "Don't thank me yet, put this on." She placed the hat on his head before she held out a small masquerade-style white mask. "And to finish the look."

M gazed down at the mask skeptically, was it a trick to get him to reveal his face? He took it warily before turning from her, she seemed not to mind. Quickly he tossed his previous mask into the bathroom before sliding the new one over his eyes.

"Now I'm really upset..." Minako huffed as he turned back to face her.

"Why?"

"I am upset because my date might look a bit better than me now!" Minako shouted, catching him off guard.

A silence passed between them before M let out a soft chuckle that Minako responded to with her own laugh.

Although they hadn't met each other until recently the pair hit it off, to M's surprise. He couldn't tell whether she took the news of his being a thief seriously or not, she never mentioned it again and he didn't dare bring it up.

Throughout the night he learned many things about Minako, including she was just a teenager, younger than him, and that she too was Japanese, in America just for a week to attend this event. He didn't bother asking how she'd been invited for fear she may bring up his own reason for being there, which would lead back to his confession of being a thief.

During the night rather than continue to refer to him as M she decided on giving him a nickname, one that fit his mysterious personality, but suave appearance.

"Tuxedo Mask."

"What?" M snorted.

"Don't you like it?!" She asked shocked, she felt it was a wonderful nickname.

"It's alright, heh..." M smiled, he was actually fond of it, but his smile soon faded when a crackling started in his ear, followed by B's voice.

"What the hell is taking you so long? D's restless."

M glanced to Minako, luckily she wasn't paying attention. "Minako, I need to go to the restroom. Wait here for me okay?"

The blonde nodded and M tore off down the hallway in search of a place to report in private.

"I got caught up in something." He responded.

"Whatever, I'm sending in backup." D grumbled.

"No!" M shouted at him, he knew what D's idea of reinforcements was. "I don't need them, let me do this!"

"Too late."

M eyes opened wide once he heard the sound of glass shattering and screams coming from the ballroom.

He raced down the hall and then another before sliding to a halt at one of the entrances to the ballroom.

From the ceiling were long black ropes with men sliding down them, the same kind of men were busting through windows and leaping over the railing to land in the main floor.

On the second level M spotted D, one foot on the railing as if ready to leap over, in his hands he saw him clutching several black balls.

"No..." M muttered.

In an instant the sound of several guns cocking filled the ballroom as numerous party goers turned out to be secret service agents, all armed and ready to unload on the newcomers.

"Easy fella." One of the men said to an agent aiming at him as he maneuvered past a woman. "Wouldn't want to hurt an innocent person would you?"

"Give us the egg is no one gets hurt!" D shouted.

"Nobody move!" One of the agents called out as his men began to split their focus between the two men talking and the others who had crashed the party.

D took a deep breath before pinching the bridge of his nose. From his pocket he withdrew several more small balls before yanking a trigger out of each and tossing them over into the main floor.

"Clear the room!"

At that moment all hell broke loose, agents were rushing to usher the guests from the room.

"Get the President and the Queen to safety!" One yelled before the smoke bomb that had been dropped exploded, filling the room with a murky haze.

Minako wasn't sure who had grabbed her before the chaos began, but they were pulling her out of the room by her wrist and refused to let go.

"Hands off!" She bayed before finally breaking free and running from whoever had tried to help her. "The hell is going on here...?" She asked as she ran down the hall in the opposite direction.

"D!" M shouted and caught the attention of the man through the haze.

D grabbed hold of a rope and scaled down to the first level and met M at the bottom. "What the hell have you been doing in here?" He barked before getting a look at his clothes. "Playing dress up?"

"D we need to leave, you've ruined the heist, let's go!" M tried to usher him to the exit, but D shoved the boy out of his way and strode into the center of the room.

"I'm not leaving until I have my egg. Now split up and find it." D crouched down and lifted his pant leg, revealing a pistol strapped to his leg. "And take care of anyone who tries to stop you."

* * *

In the Tsukino living room all of the girls were fully invested in Minako's story, all were in awe. Not only that she had been invited to such an event, but at how much drama surrounded her life back then as well.

"Minako! Don't stop there, what happened next!" Usagi whined.

"Yeah, keep going I have to hear this!" Makoto pressed.

"Alright alright." Minako started. "Well I had been near the ballroom when some of those thieves came out and overheard them talking about the egg's location, so naturally that's where I headed to stop them. It was time for Sailor V's first international act of heroism! But things got dicey, those guys weren't playing around and had no problem taking down anyone in their way."

* * *

After tracking down the thieves Minako had left behind her ball gown, under which she wore her Sailor V outfit; a red mask, and white midriff shirt with a red underside and blue topside, decorated with a large bow and shoulder pads. Sailor V was crouched behind an overturned desk in one of the many offices of the White House, coughing into her hand from the smoke that was filling the room after another bomb that just gone off. The edge of her blue and red lined skirt had gotten snagged on a stick of splintered wood and torn the fabric.

D had found the egg and was determined on getting away, even if it meant blowing a hole in the walls of the White House.

"Hold it!" V coughed before lashing out at a pair of feet that ran past her. Her whip caught around their ankle and she quickly yanked back on it, sending the man she'd snared to the ground.

She quickly lunged out from behind the desk and to the man, slipping her arms around his neck and sitting him up. D stood at the gaping hole he made aiming a gun at her. "Put it down!" She threatened, tightening her grip on the man's neck.

D fired a single shot that lodged itself in the man's chest. V quickly dropped him and shot up, her hand ready to grab her second whip from her waist.

The two stared each other down a moment, unsure who would make the next move before V saw D's position relax. She was going to make her move then, in the moment his guard dropped. But something he said caught her off guard.

"Perfect timing, M."

Sailor V spun around to gaze at M, her eyes like wildfire, wild and moving in each direction. "M?"

"Sailor V." he said softly, closing his eyes as he approached her. "I remember seeing you in Japan, why you're here I don't know, but -"

"M!" D shouted again, down at the man. "What do you think you're doing, kill her!"

"M..." V choked before her panic swam over her as he revealed a small curved blade knife from within his jacket.

"That's it!" D called out.

"Tell me you're not – with him!"

"I won't tell you then." he countered.

V looked up at him, her brow furrowed and her lips pressed tightly together as if she wanted to speak. After a moment, her shoulders sagged.

"I'm sorry." he said softly. M rushed to her, slamming a hand onto her back that forced her onto him.

V instantly slammed a fist into his chest to hold him off while she maneuvered to his side to avoid the blade.

"V!" He barked before slamming his shoulder into her, sending the girl staggering back before he lunged at her, knife poised between them and slammed his body onto hers.

Sailor V froze from pure shock as she was forced against the man. He kept this stance with her before she felt her legs give way under her. Slowly she bent her knees and was then lowered onto the floor behind the desk.

"Stay here." M whispered to V as he lifted himself off her, his knife pointed straight up between them to avoid harming the girl. V looked at him with frantic eyes, unable to understand.

"I'm not like D, I never wanted to hurt anyone." He whispered painfully as he rested the knife down beside her.

"You don't need them –" V whispered back but he stood from behind the desk and backed away before she could say anything else.

"Let's go M!" D barked. "We're wasting time!"

"I'm coming." M said before taking his eyes off V. He headed towards D who was now on the balcony checking the rope strength they'd use for their escape. As he made his way to him D gave him a hard shove but laughed soon after and M smiled to the man before he swung his legs over the railing and began to shimmy down the rope.

Once he was far enough down, D too swung his legs over and made his way down the lawn below where the rest of their crew waited.

Inside the destroyed office V lay curled in a ball and whimpering to herself as several men burst into the room with automatic weapons.

* * *

"You gave him his name Mina?" Naru asked for clarification purposes.

Minako nodded slowly, retelling the story had taken a small emotional toll on her and she felt that if she spoke, her voice would convey it.

"That was such a cool story." Usagi whined. "I always knew Sailor V was cool, but this is – wow..."

"I guess he really isn't a bad guy if he let you live." Makoto offered and the others nodded in agreement.

"But it doesn't change that he's still a suspect in the murders." Minako said with her emotions under control. "I want to prove his innocence, I owe him my life."

"We'll do it together!" Makoto shouted, thumping a fist on to the table.

* * *

"I'm back."

From the doorway of the main laboratory belonging to the Dark Kingdom came the grisly voice of a man. Clipped to his jacket was a badge with the name Taru Kojima printed on it. With wide steps he crossed the clean white tiled room, maneuvering past desks, tables, and examination slabs before dropping a few wrinkled bags onto a control panel that stretched across an entire wall, a control panel that served as a work station for an entire team of scientists.

"Taru!" A young man shouted as he yanked the bags away. "Ugh – stop – I'm working here!"

"Easy Tsuna, a little grease won't hurt anything." Taru teased before taking the bags away from his fellow scientist. He gave a hearty laugh before setting the bags back down, this time on an empty table.

"Um, what'd you get us anyway?" Tsuna asked with a scrunched up face as he adjusted his bifocals. He looked at the bags trying to find the logo of the company through small circular glasses.

"The usual." Taru stated while he dug his massive paw of a hand into one of the bags, pulling out a nearly flattened burger.

"Good, I am starving!" Another man said as he scooted close to the table with his rolling chair.

The three men were part of the group of scientists abducted by the Dark Kingdom who worked the night shifts.

Taru Kojima was the oldest in the group by ten years, a large and overweight man who was taken from his lab in Osaka only two years prior. At the tender age of 23, Tsuna Nakamura was the youngest, taken from his home and family a year before and made to work for Beryl. The last member of their team was Charles Williams, 36, an American who had been abducted in the late 80's.

As each of the men began to stuff their faces Charles rolled back to his portion of the panel where he began to tap away on his keyboard. Unaware of the grease trail he was leaving, Charles moved to his mouse and began scrolling through several progress reports and files about their newest Experiments.

"Anything new?" Taru asked between a bite of his burger.

"No." Charles answered while he waggled a french fry at his computer screen. "Everything is looking the same so far..." Slowly Charles dragged his hand holding the mouse down to scroll down the screen before he paused at a screen that was flashing green.

"New alert?" Tsuna asked with his burger pressed to his lips. Slowly he scooted closer and pushed his glasses back onto his face.

"It says that one of the Experiments is ready." Charles said in a questioning tone.

"Number?" Tsuna asked and dropped his burger, quickly sliding back to his desk.

"1-0-1-4-5." Charles read and then he and Taru looked up to a large monitor positioned above the center of the panel. Tsuna began to type in the numbers and brought the report about that Experiment onto the monitor for them.

"When did we begin work on this one? I can't remember." Tsuna asked as the file on the Experiment began to load. "Who is it?" Tsuna looked to his team members, both of them only shrugged back at him.

"Wait, look." Taru pointed a chubby middle finger to a spot on the monitor that showed the start date for the Experiment revitalization stage. "It was started just two days ago; it can't be ready so soon."

"Maybe the process doesn't take as long if you use a larger DNA sample." Tsuna offered, highlighting a spot on the file that showed the weight and size of the DNA. "Eight pounds." As he often did, Tsuna scrunched up his face and looked to his teammates, seeking their approval. "That's about six percent of an average human's body."

"Where did we get a piece of DNA like that?" Charles asked, wondering which figure from the past they were able to gather sufficient DNA from. "Who began the process?"

Tsuna jumped in his seat nervously before tapping away. "No one in the department signed off on this." Tsuna answered. "What does that mean...?"

"It means someone is running an authorized restoration." Taru announced. "Bring him out."

"Who?" Tsuna asked quickly.

"The Experiment, dammit Tsuna." Taru barked.

"But – but we don't know what it is – I mean who." The young scientist said.

"Whoever it is, they're ready to come out, now." Taru said, pointing to a box that was flashing green on the monitor, signaling they were ready to be awakened.

"Bring them up Tsuna." Charles demanded, eager to see the Experiment.

"I think it's a bad idea. Maybe the computer is glitching, there's no way he should be done by now." Tsuna explained, cautiously keeping his hands above the keyboard.

"Bring-him-up." Charles stated and Tsuna entered a long numerical code that activated a panel on the floor. Slowly a hole appeared as the white tiles slid under each other and from the hole emerged a tank, filled with green liquid.

Taru and Charles rushed from their seats to the tank with Charles in the lead. "Let's see, Experiment – Tsuna, what was the name given to this one?"

"There isn't one, the naming box was left blank."

The two men stood puzzled as the tank rose from the floor. Where the body of an Experiment should have been slumbering, there was only a single human arm with bits of goo drifting by it.

Slowly Tsuna crept over, glancing back to the monitor to see if anything changed before he slammed into Taru and stumbled back before hitting the ground.

"Dammit Tsuna," Taru growled, turning to face the boy who was shaking his head. "get your head out of your ass."

Charles squinted at the tank, expecting to see something he missed initially. "I don't understand."

Taru groaned before stomping over to the computer and hitting his thick fingers against the keyboard. "It says they're ready, so where is it?"

"This is just like with the Sailor V project," Tsuna reminded. "is it possible the DNA didn't work because the host is still alive?"

"We can't find out, we don't know who the host is, or was." Charles said, pressing a hand against the tank while he looked over the human arm. "By the look of this thing, I'd say white male."

"If the DNA sample is in such good condition, does that mean it was a recent death?" Taru offered, looking to Tsuna for his input.

"We can't make that assumption, there are many ways to preserve a body." Tsuna said, adjusting his glasses. "There's no telling how old this arm is."

"Can we get this thing out of the tank to test it? A DNA test won't take but a few minutes." Charles asked, tapping the glass.

"We have nothing to test it with." Tsuna reminded again and tapped his fingers together nervously.

"So do a damn search of our database!" Charles snapped. "Find out who this arm belonged to!"

After more skepticism and a quick slap to the back of the head, Tsuna went to work setting up their equipment to test the DNA. Charles opened the tank and watched as Taru operated a small mechanical claw into the tank to retrieve the human arm. The pounds of flesh were slapped down in front of Tsuna who looked over it uneasily before peeling off a stretch of skin to analyze.

While Tsuna did his work testing the DNA and scanning their database for a match Taru came at him with the arm. "Need a hand?"

"Taru..." Tsuna mumbled queasily at the severed arm.

"How much longer?" Charles asked.

"Not sure, but the results are going through the database fast. Should have something in the next few minutes, give or take." Tsuna answered, somewhat eager to find the owner as well.

The anxiousness of the room hit a new high when the computer buzzed with a result. The three men all pushed themselves close to the monitor as the computer began to load the file of the host.

"Come on baby..." Charles groaned as the picture began to appear.

Once the picture had loaded completely each of men's faces were home to a different expression. Charles was distraught, Taru was shocked and Tsuna was utterly confused, the latter rushing to the tank to observe it up close.

"So." he started. "If an Experiment does not make it through the revitalization process, it means the host is still alive correct?"

"Correct." Charles answered while we rubbed his tired eyes.

"Well..." Tsuna added. "It has only happened once in a proper restoration process so we can't come to that conclusion so-"

"TSUNA!" barked Taru. "Cut it out with the damn analysis on everything I say! I just need a yes or no sometimes."

Tsuna shook his head and looked back to the monitor, the picture of a young man who appeared to be in his late teenage years was staring back at him.

In the corner of the laboratory there was a small white blocky security camera that had been recording everything since the laboratory had been in use.

In another area of the laboratory, an office, Souichi Tomoe sat at his desk watching the live security footage from the main lab where Taru, Tsuna, and Charles were located. He had been listening to them all night, but it wasn't until they discovered an Experiment that he began to watch their reactions.

He smiled softly as he leaned closer to the small computer screen he had been watching them through, the screen casting a glare off his glasses. His expression broke once he heard Charles speak up again.

"Do you think it's really possible?" Doctor Tomoe watched the American move over to the tank and rub his hand against it. Tomoe sat up tall and let his grin spread wide from ear to ear once he got a clear view of the picture displayed on the monitor.

* * *

Inside a mansion, nestled in a heavily wooded area on the outskirts of Tokyo, Zoisite appeared inside a wide and empty room. The floor was covered in blue tiles that matched the panels along the walls. Ahead of him was a large stained glass window, broken into portions that covered the entire wall.

His eyes caught something floating above him near the high ceiling. "Oh, how clever." The corner of his mouth rose into a smirk as he floated towards what was above him.

"Do not touch, Zoisite." Nephrite commanded as he entered the room from the archway below. His cold eyes glared up to Zoisite who was just an inch away from disturbing a woman who hovered in a group of three in the room.

"Who are they?" asked Zoisite, floating into the center of the group. Each of the women was floating, cross-legged and spaced out equally from each other. From the stiffness of their bodies and their posture, he guessed they were meditating.

"None of your business." Nephrite barked, tightening his grip on a cup he had. "Why are you here?"

"Visiting, thought you may have realized how much you could use my help." Zoisite sang as he flew past the three women, wanting desperately to break their focus.

"Well, I love to disappoint you, so I'll tell you again. I do not, nor will I ever need _your _help. Go curl up under Kunzite where you belong. I have work to do." Nephrite left his cup on a table as he moved towards the large window.

Zoisite's jaw with slack as he gasped at Nephrite's rude remark. "Fine!"

Nephrite was pleased to hear the familiar whirl of wind that carried Zoisite away from his mansion.

He turned before his body lifted from the floor and up to the level of his meditating women. "Astral goddesses." Each of the woman's eyes snapped open at the sound of his voice; their eyes shone bright white as they stared into the open space. "I've already infected one human here in Japan, and Tensuni will work that tennis brat to death. It's time to go global."

Instantly each of the goddess threw her hands out to each other, and from their bodies' erupted airy lights that connected to one another. In their triangle of energy the women began to chant and long wisps of light flew from their bodies, flowing between the three of them.

As more light began to gather it took on the shape of a sphere, and then the colour of a sapphire. From within the sphere came tints of green, brown, and white until an ethereal model of the Earth was rotating before Nephrite.

"Show me the humans with energy levels close to peaking." he commanded and the globe began to spin, and from it emerged flashing images of faces, along with snippets of voices and conversations. The world in front of him continued to spin and the voices continued to play, over one another until it formed one long hum of sound.

Nephrite touched the pads of his thumbs together, curled his middle fingers over the indexes, and laced his remaining fingers down and around his hands formed a silver light. He aimed his hands at the rotating globe as orbs of white ran along the lines of light that were forming over his hands.

"Show me!" Nephrite called and the lights around his digits expanded to cover the globe. The small orbs then broke away and began to fly across the model of the Earth, whirling past each other before all four converged on a single location.

Before Nephrite could focus on it, the three goddesses clapped their hands and the area the orbs had landed on grew larger.

"America, as expected." Nephrite watched as the portion of the globe continued to grow larger, providing him with a better view of where the target was. "Arizona, huh? Stars show me the target!"

The lights orbiting the globe began to swirl together over the state before forming an image of the human. A young man with thick and bushy red hair and a wide dark streak running down the middle, and in his hands he held a camera.

* * *

While Nephrite prepared plans for travel, Zoisite stomped through the woods surrounding the mansion. Obscenities flew through from lips, all directed at the Shitennou.

"Who does he think he is?" Zoisite huffed and threw his hand out to the right. A deer had pranced into his line of sight and was met with an explosion under its feet. "If he won't allow me to help, then perhaps I'll do things my way."

From the pocket inside his jacket Zoisite pulled forth two black gems. Tossing one down onto the ground Zoisite quickly crushed the other one in his hand.

With a devious smile he watched the gem on the ground crack before breaking apart and a thick cloud of smoke rise from within.

Zoisite couldn't help but to let out a brief laugh as a body began to appear from the smoke. Dressed in black, like his gem, a man with long silver hair, chains draped over his body and curled horns appeared before Zoisite.

Wearing a black bladed gauntlet on his right arm the man clutched a jagged cut white blade that he stabbed into the ground. The man's eyes lit up red and a mischievous smile played across his lips upon seeing the man before him.

"I hope you're ready to have some fun, Loki."

* * *

End of Chapter Fifteen

* * *

Next, Nephrite sets out to target his next victim. While the city is shaken with panic Luna comforts Ami in the aftermath of the park murders and Usagi spies on Rei. It seems Nephrite isn't the only one of Beryl's minions the Warriors need to be worried about, what havoc will another Shitennou bring? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Sixteen - A Loki Event**


	16. A Loki Event

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about.

**Note:** Sorry for the delay.

**Review Note - avesiji: **Glad you enjoyed the chapter, I couldn't really find a scenario between Tensuni and Rui that I really wanted to use like in the anime, so I tried something new.

-**StaticLove21**: I'm glad I was able to do it justice.

-**ericaphoenix16**: Yup

* * *

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN- A Loki Event**

* * *

**Tuesday, October 6th**

"I don't know which is better; this ice cream, or the fact that school was canceled!" Usagi let out a fiendish laugh, as she was the mastermind behind getting school closed for the day.

"You never told me _why _the school closed." said Luna, watching the girl run her tongue over the double-scoop vanilla cone. She was beginning to regret not getting one for herself.

"Parents are freaked out about the murders in the park, they're refusing to let their kids leave the house, even for school. The school didn't see a point in opening if only half of the students would be there."

Luna gave Usagi a wide smile. "Your mother let you leave the house, I wonder what that means." she teased.

"Oh be quiet Luna..."

"Speaking of the park, isn't this the southern entrance?"

"Hm?" Usagi whipped her head to the side and locked her eyes onto the tapped off entrance to Juuban Park. "Yeah it is."

"I wish it wasn't all closed off, I would really like to get some reading done today..." From behind the girls came Ami, looking woefully out over the park.

"Ami? What are you doing around here?" asked Usagi.

"My cram school is in just a block away from the park, I dropped by to hand in this week's work and get my disc." Ami flashed the girls a CD with the letters C.S. written on the top of the case.

"Even on your day off you're doing homework?" Usagi muttered uneasily.

"Ami, did you go the park often?" Luna interjected.

"Oh yes, it's one of my favorite places to go read." Ami rested her hands along the railing to her left. "The fresh air, the cool breeze, and the cute animals that live in the park. It all used to be so beautiful..." she ended with a sigh.

Juuban Park was split into five portions. Each was connected by a winding concrete path that was a favorite for joggers and bike riders. Most of the damage to the park from the Warrior's bout with Jadeite occurred in the northern and western portions. The central portion of the park had been one of the best places, a wide garden of flowers surrounded a crystal clear lake that you could rent boats on. Shortly after reopening the park the two murders occurred in the eastern section, forcing the police to close everything off.

"I'm sure they'll get it all sorted out soon Ami, then you can go back to reading..." Luna said, she felt almost sorry for the girl.

"Thank you Luna, I hope so."

"So, what are you gonna do now Ami? Heading home to study?" asked Usagi in between bites of her cone.

"Not quite yet, I have a meeting with the police here in the park."

"What? Why? What did you do?!"

"Nothing, Usagi." Ami gave a small giggle. "The man that's missing, Mr. Kunatachi, he is a friend of mine. I volunteered to share some information about him to the police. He lives alone with no close family, so it must be hard for them to an understanding of the kind of person he is."

"Ah..." Usagi nodded.

"But that's not for another hour or so," Ami checked her watch. "so I figured I would wait around here until then. What about you Usagi, what have you got planned? I'm sure you're enjoying this day off."

"You bet I am! I was thinking of heading to the arcade to see Motoki, or swinging by OSA-P." she giggled in delight.

"Usagi, I'm going to stay here and keep Ami company." Luna announced, stepping away from the blonde.

"Uh – you – you sure?" Usagi asked, genuinely surprised. To her knowledge Luna's opinion about Ami hadn't changed.

"Yes, we should all enjoy the day and I want to spend it with Ami." Luna linked arms with the girl who blushed at the contact.

"Thank you Luna..."

"Alright then, I guess I'll see you guys later!" Usagi spun around and went back to enjoying her cone as she headed off down the sidewalk.

By the time Usagi had finished her ice cream she'd already been home, gotten a couple snacks for the road, and retrieved her coin purse from under her bed. The purse she slowly collected coins in for days that she would spend hours in the arcade.

As she marched her way to Game Center Crown, anticipating beat the Sailor V game high score, a flashing television to her right caught her attention.

"I'm standing here in front of the Wonder Show, a magician's tent here in the parking lot of the mall, that has been gaining attention of passerby's all morning long." Usagi pressed her face against the glass to hear the news reporter better. She was standing in the parking lot and behind her Usagi saw the tent she spoke of. It was tall, probably three times the height of the reporter, and covered in purple and blue stripes.

"Sir, can you tell us what it is like inside the Wonder Show?" The reporter gained the attention of a man off camera who slowly staggered into view.

"Uh – sure, I don't know what to say, but it was crazy." The man shook his head doubtfully as he moved closer to the camera. "This lady. She totally sawed someone into pieces and then put them back together. I mean there was a blood and everything! But, she put him back together, in the wrong order!" The man was just inches from the camera now. "It was so real! He had an arm coming out of his back!"

"What a weirdo." Usagi mumbled. "That trick's been done a million times."

"But sir, that trick has been done a million times." said the reporter.

Usagi nodded with a smirk.

"You're saying the illusion of the Wonder Show is that extraordinary?" The reporter ushered the cameraman back as she stepped up beside the man again.

"It's no illusion! It's real!" he shouted.

With a sigh Usagi stepped back from the window. "Boring..." She stared blankly ahead of her before noticing someone's reflection in the glass beside her. "AHH!" The blonde shrieked and leapt to the side, instinctively throwing her arms over her face. "UMINO!" she growled.

The boy smiled to his classmate before pushing his glasses up his nose. "Hey, what's up, Usagi?"

"A knot on your head if you sneak up on me again!"

"What were you watching on the television?" Umino looked into the display window, the various screens were showing an ad for a dance class now.

"The news! If you must know." Usagi's voice raised in curiosity as she saw Mamoru and Rei at the end of the street. The latter with a vice-like grip on Mamoru's arm. "What is she up to...?"

"Who?" Umino asked, looking to Usagi before he followed her gaze and observed Rei. "Oh wow, who's she?"

"Her name isn't important, but why is she hanging off jerk face?!" Usagi huffed. "He's way too old for her!"

"He doesn't look that old." Umino added.

"He's a college student! He has classes with Motoki, he's WAY too old to be hanging out with her. That's impure fraternization!"

"Don't you think you're overreacting Usagi? They're just standing there." From behind came Naru's voice. The girl appeared by Usagi's side with a hand on her cocked hip. "Relax."

"Naru!" Usagi squealed. "How can you say that? He could take advantage of her!"

"I'm doubt he's _that _kind of guy." Naru gave Usagi a knowing look.

"H – Hi Naru..." Umino flushed at the Osaka girl.

"Oh, hi Umino." she replied lazily.

Usagi shrieked and threw an accusing finger out towards Mamoru and Rei, who were now crossing the street, still linked at the arm.

"Look at that! They're not standing anymore, they're walking!"

"Do you hear yourself Usagi?" Naru shrugged and began heading off down the sidewalk. "They're probably friends just enjoying the day. You and Umino are out here, but I'm not jumping to conclusions."

"Me and Umino? Ew, Naru!" Usagi jogged after her. "That's different, Mamoru is..."

"Hey, what's 'ew' about me?" asked Umino as he tagged along after the girls.

"They're no different Usagi, they're both boys, and all boys are the same." Naru explained.

"Oh?"

"It's true. Now someone like Masato, that's someone to compare to." she said dreamily.

"Who's he?" Umino asked.

"A tennis coach, and Naru's latest obsession..." Usagi grumbled. After all Naru had been through, Usagi just wanted her to stay home some days and avoid the craziness that seemed to be running rampant through Tokyo lately.

"Oh, he's so great." the brunette added. "So smart, handsome, and strong, and..." she trailed off, her hands making their way to her face to cup her burning cheeks.

"Don't tell me you saw him yesterday when you left my house?" Usagi asked, already knowing the answer.

"Rui asked if I wanted to come watch her practice with Tensuni." Naru shrugged. "I didn't know he'd be there, but it sure was a nice surprise." she winked.

"Talk about impure, he's like 50 Naru!" Usagi shouted, exasperated.

"Look, that girl and Mamoru are heading into that building." Umino interjected before Naru could correct Usagi on Masato's age. Umino slid his pointed finger between the girls. Naru and Usagi's eyes followed it over to the next street were Mamoru had the door held open for Rei.

"AH! They're going on a date!" Usagi shouted. "We need to stop them!"

"Why do you think it's a date?" asked Umino

"Isn't that Mako?" Naru asked and pointed to Usagi's left, into a café.

"Huh?" asked Usagi dubiously. "MAKO! She's just the strength we need to break those two up!" Usagi beamed seeing her brawny friend sitting in a booth. "You two, go spy on Rei and jerk face, I'll get the muscle!" Usagi shoved her friends down the street before she dashed inside the café.

As Usagi darted into the lobby a man standing a small counter held an arm out to stop her from entering the lobby. "Excuse me, miss, table for one?"

"I don't want a table, I just need to get into the lobby!" Usagi shouted, trying to sidestep the worker.

"If you're not here to eat, you can't enter."

"Mako!" Usagi shouted, waving her arm frantically in her friend's direction. Across the white and mint green café, Makoto turned in her seat to see her blonde friend waving at her. "Look, she's my friend, I just need to talk to her!" Usagi pleaded, trying to signal Makoto to come to her.

Makoto turned around fully and waved back to Usagi, and gave the girl a glimpse at who she was sitting with.

"Is – Is, that Motoki?" asked Usagi, blinking in confusion.

"Hey Usagi, what's up?" Makoto asked as she jogged across the café room floor, Motoki following after her.

"Why are you here with... Motoki?"

"Oh, we're kind of on a date..." Makoto admitted, rubbing the back of her head.

"Actually." Motoki added. "We're not really-"

"HUH?! A DATE!" Usagi squealed. Makoto was dressed in a light green blouse and floral print jeans with brown heeled boots. She'd never seen the girl look so feminine before. "How do you have time to date? And how come I never knew you liked Motoki?"

"It just kind of happened." Makoto said.

"It's actually not a-" Motoki felt a bead of sweat run down his head as he tried to correct the girl again.

"Usagi!" From the door came Umino, stumbling into the room. "Mamoru and that girl are sharing a booth in that tea shop!"

"Why is everyone going on a date except me?!" Usagi whined before sprinting out of the store and down the sidewalk.

"Let's get back to our date." Makoto said, smiling to Motoki as she walked back to their booth.

Motoki sighed and scratched his forehead. "It's not a date..."

"Naru, what are they doing?" Usagi asked once she reached the shop with Naru squatting in front of it.

"Sitting there, talking." she replied with a sigh. "Why did Umino leave me here and call me his lookout?"

"We can't let Mamoru do anything inappropriate." Umino shouted, crossing the street.

"He's right!"

"You all are overreacting." Naru said before checking her watch. "Well, I need to go. Promised mom I'd come with her to some business meeting later. I'll see you at school Usagi." Naru gave her friend a light shove before she trotted off down the street.

"Did she forget about me?" Umino asked pitifully.

"Umino, how much money do you have on you?" asked Usagi deviously.

"About 40 bucks, why?"

Usagi smiled deviously and snickered. "Would you like to go on a little date with me?"

* * *

"It never gets lonely living on your own like that?" Rei asked while she stirred her tea.

"To some it might, but I guess I'm just used to it." Mamoru answered before taking a sip.

Rei nodded. "I think I can understand. I live in a big shrine, and with it just being me and grandpa, it feels like I'm alone most of the time."

"Does it bother you?"

Rei shook her head ardently. "No, not at all. I enjoy the time to myself."

"I see." Mamoru said, swirling around what was left in his cup.

"Oh! But that doesn't mean I'm not enjoying spending time you with either, Mamoru..." Rei added quickly.

Mamoru leaned back against the booth seat and smiled. "Well that's good, I'd hate to think you brought me here all because you hated spending time with people."

Rei chuckled nervously before following Mamoru's strained eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"I thought I saw someone, in that booth." He sat forward in his seat and pointed to a booth down the aisle in the next row.

"Someone, like who?"

"Like... Dumpling head!" He shouted and Usagi sank down further in her seat.

"Why are you crouched down like that, Usagi?" Umino asked between the straw clenched between his teeth.

"Oh! No reason!"

"Usagi, what are you doing here?!" Rei shouted over the top of the seat.

Usagi tilted her head back and stared at up Rei who was casting her a dark glare, and off to the side stood Mamoru.

"We're on a date." Umino answered.

"A date huh?" Mamoru asked. "Wow."

"He's lying!" the girl shouted, sitting up straight.

"Mind if we join you?" Rei asked as she slid into the booth with Usagi, hip checking the girl to scoot over.

"Yes, I do mind!" Usagi shouted as Rei pushed her into the wall.

"Usagi, did you get the day off from school also?" asked Rei.

"There's some kind of murderer on the loose!" Umino shouted.

"Really?" Mamoru asked, staring out the window absently.

"Yes!" Umino assured. "He attacked that people in the park twice! Don't you watch the news?"

After ordering more tea the four of them continued on walking about the park murders, with Mamoru trying his hardest not to be involved in the conversation.

"That really hot new announcer guy said the criminal hasn't be found." Rei said as she twirled her raven locks around her finger.

"Fawning over a guy while your _date _is sitting right there." Usagi muttered. "Smooth move."

"Oh hush." Rei snapped and jabbed Usagi in the shoulder.

"Cut it out!" Usagi whined, batting away the girl's hand.

Umino blew bubbles into his drink before glancing to Mamoru. "I hope they find the killer soon, and bring him to justice. What do you think Mamoru?"

The college student shrugged. "They'll find someone else to blame I suppose."

"They already have!" Umino corrected. "Tuxedo Mask!"

Mamoru cast the boy a dark glare before drinking down some of his tea. "Like I said, they'll just find someone else to blame."

"You don't think he killed those people?" Rei asked, cutting her and Usagi's tongue waggling fit short.

Mamoru shared his glare with Rei now before sitting his tea back down. "No, I don't."

"Yeah, me either." Rei added quickly.

"Are you sure? Because at the hospital you said he was a no good thief..." Usagi reminded smugly. Mamoru's eyebrows raised at that, eyeing Rei carefully now.

"Oh that!" Rei chuckled nervously. "Oh know, sometimes people just say things, that they don't really mean!"

"Well, I'm going to go make a quick call, excuse me." Mamoru said, rising from his seat.

"Nature calls." Umino announced before slipping from the booth and heading to the bathroom.

Usagi and Rei watched the two boys leave before Usagi whipped around to face Rei. "Alright, spill it! What do you think you're doing here?!"

"I'm on a date, what does it look like?"

"But why with him?" Usagi asked, pointing back to Mamoru.

"Why not Mamoru?"

"He's super old, and super rude, for starters."

"He's only 19, chill out." Rei said tapping her fingers against the cold plastic table. "Besides, it's just a date. I'm about to marry the guy."

"How did you two even meet in the first place?"

"Through Motoki at the arcade. He introduced us. After I heard about Mamoru's life, him living alone, being a college student, and all that money his parents left behind. I couldn't resist!"

"His money? What a gold digger!"

"Oh come off it Usagi. There's more to Mamoru than his money. He's smart, sophisticated, a gentleman, and really nice."

Usagi looked down at her hands and wondered if all that Rei said about him was true. "Still, the age difference. It just seems wrong for you to be with him..." she said quietly.

"Why? Do you want to date him?" Rei asked smugly, getting into her face.

"No!" Usagi flushed at the thought of it.

Umino walked up beside the table, wringing his hands together before sliding back into the booth. "Now we can continue our date."

"Err right..." Usagi picked up her cup before her eyes caught something outside the shop. "It's Mako." Usagi slapped the cup down onto the table, spilling some of the tea, before she scrambled across Rei's lap and into the aisle.

"Watch it, will you?" Rei shouted, holding her cup up to avoid having it fall.

Usagi uttered an apology before she darted outside and to Makoto who was waving at Rei through the glass.

"Mako! What happened to Motoki?"

"He had to leave, said he had to go meet someone." Makoto shrugged. "So I'm free now. Want to hit the arcade?"

"Sure!" she shouted, linking arms with the girl. "Anything to get me out of that _date_."

* * *

Luna and Ami spent most of their time together sitting on the bar railing to the park, simply watching the scene. Watching flocks of birds pass overhead and squirrels scurry around through the bushes.

"You check your watch a lot." Luna said after watching Ami look at the time for the sixth time since they'd been together.

"I usually have a busy schedule, so keeping track of the time is important to me. Being late isn't something I'm comfortable with." Ami admitted bashfully. "My interview with the officers will be starting soon, you don't have to stay Luna if you don't want to."

Luna shook her head. "I don't mind waiting for you."

Ami smiled and looked to the ground. "Thank you Luna, for spending some time with me. Usagi and Naru have tried to include me, but usually something always prevents that. I always got the feeling you didn't like me either."

"You've grown on me." she admitted.

"I'm glad. It feels good to have friends now."

"What happened to your other friends?"

Ami paused, her nails clicking against the plastic CD case. "I've never had any, none who were really close anyway. I usually make friends with kids in my honors classes, or here in my cram school. But the only thing that bonds us is the schoolwork. When summer would come we'd all split up. When I transferred here, all of those friends didn't really care. And coming here was hard because everyone seemed to think I was, I don't know, a snob, I suppose."

"Oh..."

"But it's alright, I'm used to being on my own." Ami smiled weakly at the sunset. "But having friends now, sure does feel good."

"I know your mom is always busy, is that what you meant by being on your own?"

"How did you know my mom is busy?"

"Uh..." Luna droned. "Usagi told me, she works at the hospital right? She's a doctor."

"Yes, she works long hours, and even in her days off she's on call."

"That must be tough for you, not having her around."

"It's fine actually, she calls often to check up on me, to make sure I'm doing my schoolwork." Ami said with a saddened expression that Luna caught. "I want to become a doctor like her someday, and she's always telling me how much work it takes."

"She just wants you to do well, parent's always have high expectations of their children." Luna said with a smile. "But if you lived at Usagi's house, you'd get praise just for waking up on time." The girls shared a laugh that was followed by a peaceful silence.

* * *

"C'mon! Jump! JUMP!" Usagi shook the joystick for the Sailor V game furiously as a monster blasted the pixelated heroine.

"Looks like I'll be winning our bet Usagi, get ready to buy me an ice cream!" Makoto shouted from the aisle behind her, mashing the buttons on her own game.

"I only have enough money for a few more games..." Usagi whined looking into her purse. Three months of saved coins had been burned through in just a few hours.

"That's crap! I blasted him!" Makoto shouted, kicking the arcade console as Sailor V was shot down in mid-jump. "What level did you lose on Usagi?"

"Seven."

"Same here. We need a tie breaker." Makoto's eyes scanned across the arcade, looking for a game to settle the score. "The VR game! We can play it together, who ever dies first loses."

"You're on Mako!" Usagi slid off her stool and hopped off down the aisle. "For the record, I want a double scooped vanilla cone with chocolate sprinkles!"

"As if I'm funding your next sugar coma." Makoto answered as she followed the blonde to the back corner and stopped in front of the machine. They watched the screen show someone's game in progress, and in the corner Makoto couldn't take her eyes off the player's growing score. "Look, they're gonna get the new high score!"

"No way!" Usagi whined and flicked through the displays to find the leader board. The current player was just 1,000 points behind of first place.

After several more minutes of waiting the girls watched as the gamer entered their name under their final score that put them 10,000 points ahead of the previous first place. Usagi kept her lips fixed in an unimpressed smirk as the letters started to appear on the screen.

_M-I-N-A-N-O_

"It's them!" Usagi shouted and switched back to the leader board, the first 21 spots now all belonged to the same person.

"I gotta see who it is." Makoto said, peeking around the box as the gamer stepped out. Usagi joined her as the player slid the helmet off, letting loose flowing blonde hair.

"M-MINAKO!" Makoto and Usagi shouted, causing the girl to jump in surprise.

"Oh hey guys." Minako smiled to them before pointing back to the box. "I did pretty good huh?"

"You're playing your own game." Makoto stated incredulously. "And winning."

"You know if there was a Warrior Moon or Jupiter game, you'd play it too..." Minako blushed before tossing her helmet back into the VR box.

"She's right." Usagi sighed. "I want my own video game..."

"Cheer up!" Minako swung an arm around both of the girl's shoulders. "Maybe someday you will."

"What's all that noise?" Makoto asked, hopping up onto her toes to look out the windows. Dashing down the street was a horde of people, all screaming like they were being chased.

"A riot?" Minako asked as the girls walked to the entrance and out onto the street. "Whoa, what are they running from?"

"HEY!" Makoto shouted and clamped her hands onto her shirt of someone who had run too close to her. The brawny girl spun around with the man and shook him until he stopped yelling at her face. "Why are you running?!"

"Because! That old lady is bat shit crazy!" The man hollered. "She sawed some guy into pieces and started juggling with the pieces of his body! Let me go!"

"Where is this happening?" Minako interjected.

"The Wonder Show!" The man screeched as he tried to pry off Makoto's hands.

"Where have I heard that before..." Usagi muttered, still watching people sprint down the street.

"It's a weird magician's tent down the street at the mall!" The man shouted again, slipping out of his shirt and dashing off down the sidewalk.

"Well then..." Makoto waved his shirt around in her hand. "Someone cutting people up and using their body parts like juggling pins? Sounds like Warrior business."

* * *

"Coast is clear." Minako said and crouched back down between two cars where the other girls waited, already in their Warrior suits.

Moon tightened her hold on her lance and looked to Minako uneasily. "Guys, shouldn't we call the someone for backup?"

"No way! We can handle some old hag." Jupiter said, shoving Moon gently, but with enough force to knock the girl over.

"Alright, I'll go in first. On my signal, Moon back me up, and Jupiter provide long-range support." Minako said and nodded to Jupiter before she crouch-ran out between the girls and to the entrance to the tent.

Poking her head into the tent opening Minako's eyes strained to see anyone inside. The dull grey pavement of the parking lot was black under the tent, and the striped outside was replaced by the dark interior. Hanging from above were dim buzzing light bulbs.

"Hello?" Minako called out as she crept inside, looking back occasionally to make sure the flap opening was still in sight.

"Welcome darling." A voice came to Minako from what seemed to be yards away inside the tent.

From above, a solitary bulb lit up brighter and illuminated a circular table with an elderly lady sitting behind it. She had thick silver hair that hung down her torso, kept out of her face by a gold circlet. She wore a sea green tunic and over her shoulders, a brown fur.

"Have you come to see a show?" The woman asked.

Minako eyed her carefully as she took another step, her foot landing in a puddle of something with chunks in it. "Gross..."

"Come closer." The woman cooed, coiling in a wrinkled finger to the girl.

Reluctantly, Minako took her up on the offer and inched closer, coming to a stop at the table. "Is it just you in here old lady?" Minako asked, looking over the table that had a deck of cards and several slender knives.

"Yes dear, we're alone." she lied. Lurking in the back of the tent was another person, crouched down and shrouded by the darkness Zoisite was undetected.

The man formed a one-handed seal, while his other hand pressed in on one of his eyes. Connecting his optical nerve with a form of ancient magic, Zoisite formed an identical flowing eye in the center of the tent, floating high above the table.

"So, what kind of trick would you like to see?" The woman asked, gesturing to the deck of cards first. "A class card trick? Or would you like to see some magic with these knives?"

"Look lady, I don't have time for this. I heard you were sawing people up in this tent." Minako moved her hands in a chopping motion over the table. "I'm here to investigate."

"Is it really smart to give away your true intentions?" Zoisite spoke up from the back of the tent. "Humans are so nosy." Releasing the pressure on his eye, the floating eye vanished, and Zoisite emerged from the darkness.

Minako took a step back, on her guard as Zoisite placed a hand on to the old woman's shoulder. "Kill her, Loki."

"Yes sir." Loki said and hopped from her seat. On the ground she was about half of Minako's height, but the wizened woman began to float off the ground. Her tunic elongated and swept across the ground as Loki began rising taller and taller.

Minako pursed her lips before whistling, and from the entrance to the tent came Warrior Moon.

"Oh, whoa!" Moon shouted, looking up at the woman who was now rising closer to the top of the tent.

Loki began to laugh, an old and raspy cackle that caused the lights in the tent to flicker. Slowly the woman pulled back a fist before punching into the air. Her forearm vanished before reappearing near Minako, jabbing the girl in her side.

Minako clenched her side as the fist vanished, reappearing on Loki's arm. "Ow! What the heck was that?"

"She teleported her arm!" Moon shouted before the same arm appeared in front of her, slamming into her gut. "OW!"

"Gotcha!" Minako shouted, wrapping her arm around the dismembered appendage. "WHOA!" Minako squealed as she felt herself get yanked forward, after a rush of cold air she appeared in front of Loki. Still clutching her arm that had reconnected onto the woman's arm.

"Minako!" Moon shouted as Loki slammed her other fist into the girl's chest and sent her flying back, vanishing for a moment, before she reappeared in front of Moon, slamming into the girl.

Zoisite watched as Loki continued to throw a barrage of vanishing punches to the girls, catching them off guard each time.

"Moon Blade Slash!" Moon's attack lit up the inside of the tent before it sliced through Loki and the tent top. "I got her!" she cheered.

Zoisite clapped before the two halves of Loki exploded, showering the inside of the tent with red sparks of light. "Congratulations." Beside Zoisite the male form of Loki appeared, his sword gleaming even in the dim light of the tent.

"Who are you?" Minako shouted.

"Mind your business human." Zoisite answered before glaring at Moon. "But you Warrior, we'll be seeing each other again soon..."

"You're not going anywhere!" Jupiter shouted, flying over the falling tent wall with a lightning charged fists above her head. "Savage Thunder!" Flipping down into the center of the tent, Jupiter brought down her fists only to be countered by Loki's blade.

The Experiment grunted before sending the Warrior back with a swing of the sword. Jupiter flew into the tent wall and brought the thick material down on her.

"Jupiter!" Moon shouted and rushed to the squirming mass of material that the girl was trapped under.

"Until next time..." Zoisite purred before he and Loki finished with a gust of wind.

* * *

Hours later Usagi lay on her bed, her math book and calculator resting on her stomach while she clutched a carton of ice cream. Her late night snack time was interrupted by Luna appearing on her balcony and rapping on her window.

Usagi tilted her head back before sliding her spoon between her lips."It's unlocked." the blonde mumbled.

"I see you're hard at work as usual." Luna joked as she entered the room, easing down onto the edge of the bed.

Biting onto her tongue Usagi used her spoon like a catapult and flung a bit of melted ice cream and saliva at the woman. "So, what did you find at the park?"

"Find?"

Usagi grunted and forced herself up in bed, leaning back against the frame. "You stayed at the park all day, it was to investigate right?"

"Oh, yeah, right, to investigate." she lied. Even after Ami's meeting with the police the two stayed around and chatted for hours before parting ways. "I didn't come across anything worth mentioning." Luna answered before kicking off her shoes.

Usagi scrunched up her nose as her spoon hit the bottom of the carton. "Wish I would say the same." Luna gave her a questioning look before the woman reverted to her feline form. "Mina, Mako and I found some tent where an old woman was sawing people up and calling it a magic."

"Sounds more like malice."

Usagi nodded. "Whatever that word means... Anyway, we confronted her and started getting attacked. She used some kind of magic to teleport parts of her body."

As the black cat leapt out of the pile of clothes, Usagi leaned forward and gathered them up. She pulled a box out from under her bed where she stowed Luna's human clothes.

"Did you get a name?"

"Loki."

"Loki, an old woman named Loki..." Luna hummed.

Usagi tapped her chin, trying to recall anything else from their encounter. "Oh yeah, when I finally managed to land a hit on her, she turned into light before a man appeared."

Luna nodded before she found her usual pillow to sleep on. "I see, well, I'll investigate it soon with the Guard. Are the girls okay?"

Usagi had been able to block most of Loki's attacks with her lance, but the weaponless Minako didn't have that luxury. She was sure she'd be feeling the aftereffects of those blows soon. "They'll live." she giggled.

* * *

Mamoru sprinted through the empty city streets and tore down barren alleyways. There was no moon overhead and the only light was this unnatural white glow that was following him. Occasionally when the light grew too bright it alerted him that he wasn't far enough way from his pursuer.

He couldn't remember why he was running, but he knew stopping wasn't an option. So he kept running, although fire had filled his lungs long ago, he couldn't stop. Cold sweat gripped his skin as his pounded the pavement.

Darting out of an alley the flash of the light momentarily blinded him. He threw an arm up to block the light hitting his eyes. "What do you want?!" He shouted, the light growing larger as it approached him. "I didn't kill anyone!"

Mamoru's arm went heavy and dropped to his side before the light flooded his vision. The chill that encased him was gone and replaced by a warm embrace. He was being held. Around him he could see a flowing white dress with two long golden pigtails running down the back of the dress.

Tilting his head down Mamoru looked to was in front of him, blonde hair pressed against a dark uniform he was wearing before the woman's face came into view.

"Find her."

"Who are you? Why do you keep haunting me?" Mamoru pushed away from the woman and stumbled backwards across an expansive outdoors balcony. Around him he could see the night sky, alive with millions of stars, and in the distance he swore he would see the Earth.

"Find her." The woman repeated, stretching a hand out to him. In an instant she had closed the distance between them and her nimble fingers grazed his forehead. A slight chill raced down his spine causing him to jolt in his seat, his foot slammed against the glass table in front of him and shook him from his sleep.

Mamoru's bare chest heaved, glistening with cold sweat. In the moment he took in his surroundings, safe and sound in his apartment.

"Damn it..." Mamoru pulled his leg up and looked down at the table he'd knocked over, he began to rub his foot and let his head drop back. "Another dream..."

* * *

End of Chapter Sixteen**  
**

* * *

Next, Usagi has been seeing Tuxedo Mask in a new light, but at a memorial service when she comes face to face when the Juuban Park murderer, will her feelings towards him change forever? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Seventeen - Pagan Things and Artistic Dreams**


	17. Pagan Things and Artistic Dreams

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about.

**Note: **CW hit 100 reviews! Thanks everyone who reads and gives feedback, I appreciate it.

**Review Notes - Ash Devil Sadist: **Thank you!

**-StaticLove21: **The Wonder Tent shall return!

**- DonovanX: **Glad you enjoyed them both. As I was writing those chapters I realized they were the longest we've gone without any action. But hopefully this will make up for it.

**- avesiji: **That's the great apart about filler chapters, you can put so much into them to tie up loose ends and make new beginnings.

**-ericaphoenix16: **Figured it was about time to include his haunting dreams, and it was a good way to end.

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN- Pagan Things and Artistic Dreams**

* * *

**Rhode Island USA – Tuesday, October 6th Midnight**

A young college student sat bundled up on a park bench, laptop in front of him, typing away while he occasionally glanced to the night sky, perhaps for inspiration.

He smiled as he finished writing down ideas for a fight scene between the Japanese heroine, Sailor V, and two pig-like monsters. "Yeah, that'll work."

A man's tender voice came from behind him. "Excuse me."

His tired eyes glanced to the side before he turned. "Yeah?" His hand rested on his laptop for a moment before pushing the top down.

"I am looking for someone, a W.R. Droma. I heard he is a student at the university." The man gestured back to a college that was just about ten yards away, Rhode Island School of Design.

The student looked the man up and down, he was wearing dark slacks and a dress shirt under a long dark overcoat. "Why are you looking for him?"

"Well, one of the faculty at the university is a good friend of mine. He told me some of his students were working on a Sailor V movie, but funding was an issue. I'm a bit of a Sailor V fan myself." He dug a hand into his coat pocket and revealed a check. "I heard that Mr. Droma was in charge of the production and is writing the script for the movie. I wanted to deliver this check to him, with hopes to help aid the production."

"Well look no futher." A smile crossed the student's lips as he shot up from the bench. "Nice to meet you, I'm W – Mr. Droma."

"Oh, how convenient." the man replied with a small smile. "Well, here you are. I hope it helps."

W.R. took hold of the check and looked over the front. "45,000,000 dollars..." His words caught in his throat, never before had he seen so many zeroes. "Are you seriously just giving me this?!"

The man smiled. "I've made quite the fortune for myself in my life as a business man. I know a good investment when I see one."

"W-What's the catch?" he muttered, unable to take his eyes off the check.

"No catch." the man replied and threw his hands up defensively. "Just promise me you'll make a good film."

"THANK YOU!" he shouted. "M-Mas..."

"Masato, Masato Sanjouin is my name." Masato extended a hand to the boy which he took immediately and shook.

"We'll make a great movie! You won't regret this!"

"I'm sure I won't."

* * *

**Tokyo Japan – Wednesday, October 7th **

"Morning already..." muttered Luna. The cat stretched out across the pillow she spent the night on.

"Keeeeeeping adding chocolate..." grumbled Usagi, who was slumbering beside her. The blonde was coiled up tight in her mass of sheets and covers. "I'll say when..."

Taking slow steps Luna crossed the bed, walking on Usagi's back, before she she hopped onto the floor. With another stretch Luna scratched her claws against the the girl's floor. She then crawled under the bed and bit onto a string connected to her box of clothing.

After pulling it out, Luna transformed and changed into her Guard uniform. From her pocket she fished out her phone as she made her way to the veranda. Slipping outside she checked her messages and grimaced at the first being from Mani, that came late last night.

Luna leaned against the railing while her voicemail played over the phone. "You have one new message from, _Mani_."

'Luna. I apologize for calling at such a late hour, but there's been a death in the United States. Call me when you get this.'

Luna furrowed her brow and dialed the man's number. While the ringing played in her ear, her gaze was fixed on the light blue sky above.

"Hello?"

"It's Luna."

"Good morning Luna, how are you?" Mani asked politely.

Luna smiled and tapped her fingers along the balcony railing. Mani had always been the perfect blend of a father, brother, and friend to the Protectors. "I'm doing well."

"Good to hear, now onto business."

Luna nodded and listened to the sound of papers being flipped through in the background. "Kijin Shinokawa, a Tokyo resident, was on a trip to the Grand Canyon with his parents. His trip was paid for as a prize for winning an international photography contest, it seems the young man was quite good at taking photographs."

"I've heard of him before."

"Oh?"

"Usagi is a fan of his work."

"Well, young Kijin died during his trip to America." replied Mani in a nonchalant tone. "He arrived in the states on Saturday and was he was found yesterday. Or should I say his body was found, at the base of the canyon."

"Sir, is it at all possible he simply slipped and fell?" asked Luna. "I don't see the point behind us concerning ourselves with the case."

"Losna was faxed a copy of the medical report." Mani paused, more page flipping. "All injuries young Kijin sustained from the fall into the canyon happened postmortem."

"He was dead before he fell?"

"Yes, dead for at least an hour before he hit the bottom."

Luna sighed, she realization hit her like a speeding car. It couldn't have been an accident, someone else had to be there.

Through the phone Mani gave a soft chuckle once he knew Luna had connected the dots.

"I don't mean to sound like I'm dodging this, but could this have been some kind of crime? It's possible he was killed and then disposed of, I'm still not seeing our connection to it."

"It was at Losna's request we investigate the death. She is sure the murders that occurred in Juuban Park are related to the Dark Kingdom somehow, and we have yet to narrow down a culprit. We can't afford to let things go unnoticed. If there is a slight chance this death is related to the park's, we must do all we can. Although only a short amount of time has passed since the discovery of the body, word is that the American authorities have made no progress. Withal, the Shinokawa's are requesting the autopsy be conducted here in Japan."

"About the body, can we get it? Or any of its effects?" Luna asked as she headed back into the bedroom, careful not to wake the stirring blonde.

"Kijin's parents are on their way back to Japan with his body as we speak. A full autopsy will be conducted here by the Metropolitan's coroner. We should be able to get the body in a day or two to have Losna's Division look it over."

"I see."

"I've already notified the others, but if you are available, I would like you to come in for a meeting this afternoon at one."

"Sure, I planned on coming in early today anyway. See you soon." Luna hung up the phone before slipping out of Usagi's room, preparing to slam the door behind her to wake the girl. She bit the inside of her cheek before closing the door slowly, opting to let her sleep in a bit longer.

* * *

"C'mon Usagi! You promised you'd tell me during lunch!" pleaded Naru, who was tugging on Usagi's blouse.

While Naru pulled on her, Usagi struggled to get even a single bite of her lunch in. At one point she nearly slapped herself in the eye with a chopstick. "I told you, we're waiting for Mako. I don't want to have to repeat myself."

"Oh..." Naru groaned, throwing in a pseudo-crying sound. "This is torture!"

"I'm not that late!" Makoto assured as she trotted towards them from across the school yard "I book checked some guy by accident and stayed to help him gather his things. He didn't stick around long enough for me to apologize though." Makoto chuckled before plopping down in front of the two girls and fishing her own lunch out from her bag.

Usagi frowned looking at the differences between her bento and Makoto's. Sometimes she wished Makoto was her mom, or at least lived with her to cook for her.

"SPILL!" Naru shouted, jabbing Usagi in the side

"Ow! Okay, okay!" Usagi covered up her lunch before tapping her fingers together. "I had a dream about Tuxedo Mask again last night..."

Naru's jaw dropped before she bit her lip in excitement. "Ooooo! Wait, what do you mean again?!" she screeched. "Why am I just now hearing about this? I told you, secrets don't make friends!"

"I guess it's a good thing we're all already friends then, huh?" Makoto asked through a mouthful of food. She'd already forced the confession about one of Usagi's previous dreams out of the girl.

Usagi smiled and giggled at Makoto.

"So spill," Naru said, slapping Usagi's shoulder playfully. "What was the dream about? Was it hot...?" she asked in a devious tone.

Usagi flushed at the thought of it. Although her most recent dream had been PG, she couldn't say the same for some of the others she had. "I was running late to school and falling a lot and-"

Makoto closed her eyes and shook her head in a doubtful way. "That doesn't sound like a dream, that sounds like a Monday." she snorted.

"Mako!" Usagi whined. "That's really mean!"

"I'm sorry. Heh, continue."

Usagi cleared her throat and nudged Naru who was suppressing a giggle. "I kept falling and every time I did he was there to catch me." Usagi hugged herself, trying to recall the feeling of arms around her. "It was so romantic... He kept saying the same thing 'I won't let you fall.'"

"That's it?" Naru asked incredulously. "He caught you..." Naru dropped back against the tree behind her and sighed. "C'mon Usagi, I need more to go on! Tell me he rescued you, shirtless, from a kidnapper! Or he kissed you on a beach during a sunset!"

Makoto raised her brows suspiciously at Naru before she waved her chopsticks at her. "Does your mom know you've been reading her romance novels?"

"I can't believe you have a crush on him, Usagi." Naru said, ignoring Makoto.

"He's saved both of our lives Naru, plus he's so mysterious..." Usagi bubbled. "What's not to love?

"And you say I'm boy crazy..." Makoto muttered.

"It's going to be hard for you two to have a relationship when he's in prison for murder." Umino broke in as he popped his head around the tree.

Usagi's eyes seemed to roll all the way around their sockets. "Umino..."

"I heard the police are ready to make an arrest for the two murders. They're going to trick Tuxedo Mask with jewels and arrest him!"

"And how do you know this?" asked Naru as Umino fixed himself down beside her.

"I have an in at the police department!"

"By in, do you mean you snuck in and did some eavesdropping?" she added. "That sounds more realistic."

Makoto slammed her lid on her heart shaped bento box. "I don't think he did it, and the police will find the true murderer sooner of later." She exclaimed before winking to Usagi.

"Thanks Mako..."

"So, what are you girls doing after school?" Umino asked.

"Naru, want to come to the arcade with Mako and I after school?" Usagi said.

"Can't. Going to the tennis club."

"Is Rui still practicing with Tensuni?" Makoto asked doubtfully, she was all about dedication to a sport, but she thought Rui was overdoing it a bit.

"Yup! She's trying really hard to get better for that tournament."

"She's going to work herself to death if she's not careful." Usagi added.

With a sigh Umino dropped his head. "Ignored, like always..."

* * *

While most of Usagi's home economics class was listening to their teacher, Higure Akiyama, explain how to patch a hole in jeans, the blonde had fallen asleep five minutes after class started. While a pool of a drool gathered under her head, Usagi in one of her favorite dreams, revealing Tuxedo Mask's identity.

The duo stood at the top of a hill, bathed in moonlight, while the cool midnight air whipped around them. In her school uniform Usagi stood on her tip-toes and reached for the masquerade style mask.

As her fingers grazed the mask, the man's lips formed a smile. She in turn smiled, feeling her cheeks warm she took hold of the mask and pulled. Slowly at first she pulled the mask away, revealing what looked like pale white skin. Usagi furrowed her brow before she yanked away the mask, revealing another white mask underneath.

"No fair!" She huffed and grabbed the mask, tearing it away to reveal another mask. Tossing it aside she began tearing away mask after mask with both hands, sending a collection of the white masks tumbling down the hill.

Usagi whined as she ripped away another mask before Tuxedo Mask's hands wrapped around her wrists.

"Usagi." He whispered, but Usagi's face distorted into confusion as the voice she heard didn't belong to the masked hero. "Usagi."

Again a voice that didn't belong to the man. Suddenly his hands began to jerk her around, shaking her. The familiar, but wrong voice continued calling for her until she was jerked from her slumber.

Flying back from her desk Usagi stared up at Naru with tired eyes. The Osaka girl stood in front of her desk with hands on her hip, and a disappointed look on her face. Usagi glanced around the empty classroom before groaning.

"What...?"

"Class is over Usagi, you slept through it." Naru said.

"Aww... It was just a dream!" she whined. "I was standing with Tuxedo Mask. It was beautiful..."

"You know what's not beautiful, that public pool of a drool spot on your desk." Naru said, pointing to it. "Clean it up and let's go!" She tossed a handful of tissues on the desk that were soaked through instantly.

"Ugh..." Usagi groaned as she wiped up her mess and deposited the tissues into the trash.

"I hope I don't miss the bus to the tennis club waiting on you Usagi." Naru said as the girls exited the classroom.

"No need to get hostile Naru, I'm sure Masato will wait for you." Usagi replied with a sheepish grin.

Naru furrowed her brow and gasped. "What makes you think I'm going there to see him? I told you, Rui is practicing today."

"_And_ he's helping her practice, so he'll be there. You get to see your friend and your crush, killing two birds with one stone." Usagi winked to her before they trotted down the stairs to the first floor.

"Usagi! Naru!" Ami shouted from down the hall, jogging towards the girls.

"Hey Ami, how's it goin?" Naru asked.

"Wonderful." Ami fished out a flyer from her stack of books. "Here, have a look! There's going to be a memorial service tonight for the Juuban Park victims."

Usagi looked over the flyer, her eyes searching for where this would be taking place. "It's happening in the park itself..." The thought of going there after dark gave her chills.

Ami frowned before pulling out another flyer from her book stack. "You don't sound too excited about it Usagi... I know these services can be a tad uninteresting, but I think it would be nice to attend."

"Aww c'mon Usagi, it's a good idea!" Naru pleaded.

"Oh what, you're not too busy with Masato to come?"

"It starts at 10." Naru said, pointing to the time on the paper. "The club closes at 9, plenty of time to make to the park for the service."

"Thank you Naru!" Ami said. "Even though he's only missing they're holding a private service for Mr. Kunatachi as well."

"That old man who worked in the park? Do they think something happened to him?" asked Naru, looking over the flyer again.

Ami nodded before looking down to her shoes, a larger frown making its way onto her face. "The police said it's possible he saw the killer and was kidnapped or murdered. I would really love for you to come Usagi, it would mean a lot to me..."

Usagi sighed, wanting to stay away from the park with every fiber of her being. "Fine. I'll be there." She groaned handing the paper back to Ami.

"Thank you! I'll see you both tonight!" Ami cheered before heading off down the hall again.

"I'll see you there too Usagi, I gotta get going to the club!" Naru squeeze-hugged Usagi before dashing out of the building.

Finding an empty wall to lean on, Usagi fished out her phone and dialed Minako's number.

"Heyyyy." Minako called through the phone. "What's up?"

Usagi rested her head against the wall and sighed into the phone. "There's a memorial service in the park tonight at 10. Naru and Ami are going, but I'd feel better with you and Makoto tagging along."

"Don't sound so sad! I'll be there!"

"Thanks Mina, I'll find Mako now." Usagi ended the call before sliding the phone back into her bag.

* * *

"Kijin's body arrived in Tokyo just a hour ago." Kalla stated to his fellow Protectors sitting in their seats around their meeting table. "I spoke with an assistant to the coroner, she said we could have the body as early as tomorrow morning."

"Good job." Mani stated while he looked over a file in front of him. "Until we recover the body there's nothing much we can do about this."

"What about the other two bodies?" Kalla asked.

"They're here." Losna said. "They're in my lab being worked on. When the last body gets here we can start examining all of them. The first two died in the same way, kind of... But they're different from Kijin's."

"Yeah, in that they were more like slaughters." Dewi added. "One torn into pieces and the others almost in the same condition."

"Let's leave Losna and her team to their work." Mani redirected. "For now, we have to focus on the cause of all this." Each of the others at the table flipped open a pale blue folder placed in front of them. In the page staring back at them were 3x3 lines of black and white pictures. "Losna, what would you say is capable of committing such crimes?"

The girl's youthful face scrunched up in concentration as she mentally recalled the conditions of the bodies. "I don't know – if its okay to limit anything... There have been plenty of crimes in the past that humans did, and they were just as bad as these."

"So we could be looking from anything from a deranged psycho to a... deranged Youma?" Jarilo asked, straining his eyes to pick out any familiar face from the papers in the folder.

"No, that's not what I meant." Losna corrected meekly, wringing her hands together. "Nikkal and I actually finished our examinations of the bodies yesterday."

Mani shifted in his seat, adopting a more relaxed pose. "Oh?"

"Yes sir, and we could use a second opinion." Nikkal said, with her smooth but husky voice. "But it would appear their corpses are hexed, or cursed."

"By what?" Artemis asked, glancing to Luna.

"Can't say for sure. We're running further tests to find out. But there's something still within the bodies that is keeping them alive." Nikkal answered.

Kalla slammed his hands onto the table as a shouted expression overtook his face. "They're still alive?!" he shouted.

"Only one of them, the body that was cut into pieces is dead." Nikkal nodded slowly. "But it's only thanks to whatever is still residing within the body. If we were to expel it they would truly be dead, and the decomposition would most likely start immediately."

"So, this isn't a human doing this...?" Jarilo asked, still flipping through the papers.

"Probably not, but I don't think we should rule anything out. This could be someone from the Dark Kingdom working with a human or controlling one." Nikkal answered, closing her own folder. "But we don't have any leads yet, I asked Iah to keep an eye out for similar events that may occur in the city and any weird energy spikes. Ilargi said she was going to keep an eye on things on a global level after what happened to that boy in America."

"Good work everyone." Mani said before rising. "It's imperative we stay on top of this. You may all go back to your duties." He nodded to the Protectors as they began filing out of the room. "Artemis, Luna."

"Yes sir?" The duo regarded in unison.

"Luna, I'd like the Warriors to be brought in tomorrow for a full briefing on this. No doubt they're aware of the situation, but they need to be fully informed. And Artemis, I want any records the police have on these cases." The two Protectors nodded in understanding. "Even if it's a slim chance the police may have picked up on something we missed, we can't afford to let it go under our noses."

* * *

Hours later the girls had gathered, dressed down in black, near the entrance to Juuban Park. They mingled with a few of the thirty some people that had gathered for the service. Once 10 o'clock beeped on Usagi's watch the group took off, walking through the winding pathways of the park towards the memorial spots; three flower alcoves had been decorated to pay respects to the victims and the missing caretaker.

After the group had left the second alcove Usagi and her group had ended up at the back of the line, forcing a paranoid Usagi to constantly look behind her. Each creature scurrying across the paths or wind rustling the brushes caused the blonde to jump, afraid someone may sneak up on her.

"Is anyone else getting that weird-cold-creepy-death feeling?" Minako asked, shivering slightly.

"I wouldn't put it like that, but it is weird being here again." Makoto responded from up ahead.

Sticking close to Makoto's side Naru nodded.

Usagi spun around once the sound of a rustling caught her ears again. Although the park was covered by the late evening darkness, with the help of a distance lamp she could faintly make out the outlines of trees and where the masses of growth were. Furrowing her brow she took a slow step back, almost wanting to hear something else, something to assure her she wasn't imagining things.

"Oh, I don't like this! I wanna go home!" she whined before turning back. To her dismay her friends were barely in sight. Yards down the trail she caught sight of Minako turning a corner.

"Guys! Wait for me!" Usagi shouted and began flailing her arms, taking off down the path again. If it hadn't been so dark, she might have seen the lopsided square of concrete in front of her. Withal, her black shoe caught on it and sent the girl falling face first into the ground.

"OWWWW!" she howled as she rolled side to side. She flipped over and began brushing small pebbles off her legs before rubbing her sore nose. "That hurt..."

Behind her Usagi heard footsteps approaching coupled with something something dragging across the pavement. She turned her gaze upwards as she twisted her body around, getting a glimpse of who was approaching.

Swaying just a foot away was none other than Mr. Kunitachi. A man who Usagi was only recently able to identify thanks to his picture at his memorial spot.

"M – Mr...?" she mumbled. It took a moment to realize something was wrong.

Mr. Kunitachi looked off, in his picture he looked perfectly normal, but the man wavering before her looked demented. His legs were cocked inwards, his arms cut up and his fingers bent in odd directions. Unidentifiable spots stained his pants and his torn and tattered shirt.

With help from the moonlight and dim glow of a lamp Usagi could tell his skin was a sickly pale, covered in scratches and more spots. Kunitachi cocked his head to the side, his wide eyes fixed on Usagi complemented his deranged smirk.

Usagi shifted back and slowly rose to her feet. Kunitachi responded by swinging his arm up, with it came a shovel. At the end of which Usagi could make out something dark red dried against the blade edge.

Kunitachi smiled, his cracked lips splitting in the process before he advanced on the girl. Like magnets, Usagi took a quick step back.

"Mr. Kunitachi, where have you been?" Usagi asked, taking another step back. "People have been worried about you..."

"LIAR!" the man bayed. "People only care about themselves!" Kunitachi made a wide swing at Usagi with the shovel. The girl hopped back, out of its range. "They forgot the wonder of nature! They got in the way of it! So I had to... take care of them!" Kunitachi ran his hand along the shovel's edge.

"Take care of?" Usagi quavered.

Kunitachi dropped his head back and began to laugh hysterically. "YES!" He snapped his head back in Usagi's direction, his eyes wide again, rolling around in their sockets, a line of drool ran from his lips. "That boy! That girl!" Kunitachi brought the shovel up above his head before swinging it down towards Usagi again.

The girl shrieked before jumping back and dashing off to the side, into the mass of trees and bushes.

"DON'T RUN!" he howled. "Come and pay your respect to mother nature!" Kunitachi swung his shovel wildly as he began trampling through the growth.

"AS IF!" Usagi screamed, dipping and dashing between trees, attempting to zig-zag through the park and confuse her pursuer.

After putting what she considered a good distance between her and the pathway, she paused and pressed herself against a tree for a breather. "He must be the killer!" she rasped, holding her side.

"I'm no killer! Only a savior! Of nature!" From just a yard away Usagi heard him and watched his shovel flail around through the shrubbery.

Usagi took in a rough breath before turning and heading off again. She listened to Kunitachi's shouts getting closer as well as the sound of his shovel cutting through the air. She only glanced back to make sure he wasn't in her line of sight, that was good enough for her.

Before she could turn back around she crashed into something. The impact sent her stumbling back, her heel hitting a root. A strong arm wrapped around her waist while another took hold of her wrist, keeping her from hitting the ground. Usagi blinked absently at a white mask that stared down at her.

"Tu – Tuxedo Mask?" she breathed.

Maybe it the fact it was the first she'd seen him up close without her own mask, but Usagi couldn't help but to gape up at him. At his heart-shaped face, surrounded by a halo of short dark hair. The darkness obscured most of his features from her, but it was the mask that she had a hard time seeing through. Rows of brilliantly white teeth appeared as the masked hero smiled.

"I don't believe we've met, what a shame it had to happen in such an unfortunate setting." he said softly, helping her stand. "It's not safe, you should get out of here." he cocked his head off to the side, nodding to a trail in the bushes that would take her to the main path.

Usagi nodded in understanding and began to walk away, his gloved hand sliding down her arm as they parted. Without realizing it Usagi closed her hand gently around his fingers, not wanting to leave. Her moment of bliss was interrupted by Kunitachi leaping out of the bushes, swinging his shovel.

"Another heathen, come to trample on and disrespect the beauty of nature!" he bellowed, swinging at Mask who did an effortless flip backwards to avoid it. From within his jacket he pulled out a small cane that quickly extended, the brunt end slamming into Kunitachi's chest.

"Leave now!" Mask shouted.

Usagi jumped at the harshness of his voice before nodding and dashing off through the trees.

As she ran she occasionally heard the grunts of Kunitachi or the sound of weapons colliding. After sprinting through the wooded area of the park Usagi was relieved to see another stone pathway.

She picked up her speed and bunny hopped over a bench, flying into the light of a lamp and into the path of another person. Her eyes widened seeing it was Luna she was bound to run into.

"GAHHH!" she cried as they collided and crashed down to the ground.

"USAGI WATCH IT!" Luna shouted, shoving the girl off her.

"Oww..." Usagi cried, rubbing her sore bottom. "Luna, why are you here?"

"Investigating!" Luna snapped, hopping to her feet. "Why are you here?"

"Running for my life as always..." she sighed.

"Pardon?"

"The park murderer is here! He found me!"

"You're alright?" Luna asked, looking the girl over.

Usagi nodded with a sigh. "I'm fine. Tuxedo Mask found me too, he's in the woods fighting with the park caretaker, that's who killed those people Luna!"

"If he's fighting, why aren't you?"

Usagi stifled a nervous chuckle. "Well you see... He saw me, as me, and I couldn't just transform in front of him." She tapped her fingers together and watched Luna's expression drop.

Luna cocked her head and rolled her eyes. "No excuse!" She shouted before spinning the girl around and shoving her back towards the woods. "Get in there and do your job!"

"Don't make me go Luna!" Usagi cried, grabbing hold of the bench as Luna continued to push her. "That man is creepy!"

"Get your flabby butt in there!" Luna chided, prying the girl's fingers from the bench.

"But I don't wanna do it!" she blubbered.

"Are you going to be able to live with yourself if Mask got hurt fighting him? Or worse! He could escape and kill someone else!"

Usagi sighed, defeated. "I hate it when you're right." She snatched up her charm and in a flash of light Usagi Tsukino was gone.

"I need a favor Luna." Moon said, adjusting her mask. "Naru and Ami are here tonight with Mako and Mina. They don't know about Kunitachi."

Luna nodded in understanding before pulling her phone from her pocket. "I'll call and warn them."

Moon took in a deep breath. "Thanks!" she shouted before she zipped off through the trees.

* * *

"Superintendent!" Wakagi shouted, bolting his way into the woman's office. Sakurada slipped her legs off her desk as she sat up in her seat.

"What is it?"

Wakagi hunched over, taking a moment to breathe before looking over a coffee filter he had scribbled on. "I just got a called from Mouri, he said he has a lead on the murderer that killed the teenagers in the park!"

"What's the lead?" Sakurada asked skeptically, she'd received numerous calls, all claiming the same thing.

"Someone called in claiming they saw Tuxedo Mask near the park!"

Sakurada tapped her chin for a moment before nodding to Wakagi. "Head to the park with a team. If you spot him take him down."

* * *

Mask watched a dark energy begin to seep out of Kunitachi's body, forming on his skin like water droplets before they floated away. Behind the man the fleeing energy formed a large grotesque shadow of the man who was now looking frail and emaciated.

Mask could make out a smile on Kunitachi's sunken in and skull-like face before the man propelled himself forward. His eyes however, were focused on the figure of darkness behind him.

Twirling the cane behind his back Mask sidestepped the man's charge. He then jumped back, sending his extending cane out to slam into the man's chest again. The force threw the weak man back against the tree where Mask kept him pinned.

Kunitachi let out an inhuman roar as he knocked the cane off his chest. "DIE!" The man's eyes rolled back and the darkness surrounding him attached itself back onto his body, circling his limbs. The man's arms raised and the shovel was shrouded in the darkness before it was swung towards mask, sending a wave of black energy in his direction.

Withdrawing his cane Mask quickly jabbed it into the ground, extending it to propel himself into the air.

Turning his cape into the glider, Mask withdrew his cane before casting it down on Kunitachi again. Beaming the man in the chest with it, Mask applied his weight behind it and forced the man onto the ground.

Mask yanked back his cane before his glider fell back into its cape form, dropping the man from the sky. Reaching the ground Mask stomped down onto the man's gut with all his might, forcing a bloody cough out of the man.

Holding his cane above Kunitachi's throat, five darts jutted from the bottom and prodded against his jugular. Kunitachi seemed unfazed by the threat as he began growling and trying to grab Mask with one of his now claw like hands. Mask weaved to the side to avoid being gripped before he lunged off the man. Kunitachi hopped to his feet, and swung at Mask, again sending a wave of dark energy at him.

Mask gritted his teeth and held his cane out flat, allowing the attack to connect before tilting his weapon to the side. He adjusted his hands as the wave clashed against the shaft before it slipped off and went flying off into the distance.

Kunitachi quickly closed the distance between them, the darkness forming close to his skin as he threw a punch out to Mask. He was quick to parry it with his cane before throwing out a punch of his own that started a series of a blows between the two.

Mask soon gained the upper hand, forcing Kunitachi back with each punch he threw. As one flew past the caretaker's head, grazing his cheek, the man took advantage of the situation and wrapped an arm around Mask's wrist.

With another roar Kunitachi swung him around before releasing him, sending him spiraling upwards. Mask flipped over in the air, his glider making him able to regain his composure.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Kunitachi roared as the darkness encased his feet and propelled him into the air.

Mask snorted. "Oh, so you can fly too?"

He flew in closer before making a swing with his arm, a wide wave of energy flew out towards Mask, to which he dropped down under to avoid. Kunitachi pulled back his fist before throwing it out to Mask, the action was amplified by the darkness that shot from his hand, taking the shape of a larger fist flying towards Mask.

Crossing his arms over his chest Mask took the brunt of the attack, but without giving him time to react Kunitachi swung his other arm over his head. Sending another ethereal fist coming crashing down over Mask and sent the thief tumbling to the ground.

Rolling over onto his back Mask groaned before rising to his feet. Kunitachi came down to him faster than expected and made a slash at him, dark claws nearly sliced into him but Mask leapt back out of range. Kunitachi landed and slapped his hands together, a cone of dark energy forming in front of them before it was fired at Mask.

Anticipating the attack Mask ran up the nearest tree and flipped over once the attack had collided with the trunk.

"You dodge well!" Kunitachi mocked before firing several more blasts out, all of which Mask dodged with precision.

Mask smiled and pointed his cane bottom towards the man. "Let's see if you do the same." Five darts ejected themselves from the base and zipped through the air to the man.

Kunitachi raised an arm over his body and the larger dark version did the same, only to be useless against the darts as they tore through it and through Kunitachi's body.

Mask smirked watching the caretaker's body jolt in succession as each of the darts ripped through his body. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Mask dashed across the small clearing and rammed his fist into Kunitachi's stomach forcing the man to hunch over.

Shifting to his side, Mask dropped his elbow down onto the back of the man's neck, forcing a spew of saliva and blood out of his mouth. Whipping around the masked man delivered a swift kick to the man's jaw and sent him tumbling across the ground.

"WRAH!" Kunitachi roared again and Mask lowered his leg, positioning his cane in front of him. As Kunitachi stood a dark aura erupted around him the began to attach itself to his body. Mask watched the darkness consume the man before steam began to lift off his body.

* * *

"I'm such a bad friend." Naru murmured. "I can't believe I lost Usagi!" The girl had noticed just five minutes ago the blonde wasn't trailing behind her and set off on her own to find her.

While the rest of the group waited nearby at the last memorial spot Naru backtracked through the park to find where Usagi might have stopped. Poking her head into a clearing she spotted a few dark shapes sprawled across the ground. Under the glow of a nearby lamp she could make out them both to be people.

"Uh – hello?" she said, inching closer. "You'll catch a cold if you sleep out here, you know that right?"

Clopping around between the two men was a deer, a buck – an old one judging by his antlers. She wasn't bothered by wildlife, she expected the buck to be enjoying a snack. But when it dipped his head, it wasn't grass the buck was feasting on.

The first was an older man, laying sprawled on the ground, head thrown back and mouth agape. Naru judged by the lines of blood running down his face, his eyes were gone. A similar, but larger, series of lines ran down his pale chest, bringing her attention to the fact his throat had been ripped out as well.

What Naru identified as his windpipe was hanging out like a wet noodle. The blood coating his front had dried in a half-circle pattern on his chest. From his position she guess he was clutching his stomach when he was attacked, but his effort proved useless from the way his guts had spilled out onto the grass.

The man was being devoured.

Naru watched the buck raise his head, blood from his feast had stained his once white chest. With a snort that startled Naru the deer dove its head into the man's stomach, nosing around before coming back up dripping mouthful of something soft enough that Naru heard the squelch as the meat oozed between his teeth.

"Ohmygod..." She clamped a hand over her mouth, resisting the urge to vomit. "Help!" she shouted and scrambled to the other body, turning it over to shriek in horror as black insects crawled in and out of his eye sockets and mouth.

* * *

Mask watched silently as the steam became a thick cloud surrounding the man, and soon a dark aura was visible through it. He narrowed his eyes to get a better view of what was occurring inside, but found himself straining to understand what he was seeing.

Emerging from the steam were a pair of black ribbed horns pointing outwards. They were attached to the dark haired head of a goat, a star burned onto its head could faintly be seen from his distance. As the steam cleared Mask could make out the creature's body now, the hair on its head continued down to its neck, but from there it was the body of a man, a thin man. To Mask it looked as if someone simply wrapped human skin around the bones and muscles of a well developed man.

Behind the creature, Mask watched a sharp pointed tail flick about wildly and soon the creature was moving, stepping closer. It's hair covered thighs were the size of two of Mask's legs and its hoofed feet dug down into the ground. He met the creature's intense stare, its pure white eyes pierced the darkness in an eerie way.

"Are you ready to die yet human?" The monster said, but from where he was standing Mask couldn't see a mouth moving on it.

Mask glanced down to his cane, spinning it in his hands strengthened his resolve before looking back up. The beast had taken the chance and charged Mask, it's powerful thighs propelled it across the clearing and its head was snapped down, ready for impact.

"Shit!" Mask yelped before holding his cane out. The skull of the monster hit it hard and sent Mask flying back and crashing into the nearest tree.

Mask muttered a few obscenities as he looked over the two halves of his now broken cane. He watched a few trickles of a red energy pass between the two pieces before he tossed it aside.

"These things aren't cheap!" Mask shouted. "Don't break this one, or I'll turn you into lamb chops!" From within his jacket he pulled forth a small black staff with white tips. He looked over the weapon before it extended and grew wider upon his mental command. The man twirled it around his body, getting used to its slightly different weight. "I hope this is as strong as he told me it is..."

The creature flexed and let out a near deafening roar before swinging its arms across its chest, sending an X-shaped wave of dark energy flying at Mask.

The caped man shot into the air again with the help of his staff and watched the attack slice through numerous trees. Switching to his glider he listened to a very feminine yelp come from below.

"WATCH IT UGLY! That almost hit me!" Warrior Moon shouted, leaping from her hiding place.

"Warrior Moon!" Mask shouted as he circled above.

"Tuxedo Mask!" she beamed, her smile widening as the man dropped down beside her. "What are we dealing with exactly?"

"From the look of this guy, I'd say it's-"

"I am Baphomet!" The creature roared before charging the duo.

"Together?" Moon asked hopefully, her lance appearing from its other worldly home.

Mask smirked before slamming his staff into the ground "Together."

Baphomet roared as he flew across the clearing, jagged waves of darkness covering his fist as he approached the two. Moon was quick to scream and leap off to the side, but Mask stood his ground and extended the staff out to him.

The weapon's size changed again, morphing into a thinner version that beamed Baphomet in the eye, slowing the beast down. Moon emerged from the side, swinging her lance down over the creature's body but her attack was halted as Baphomet caught the blade.

"Hey! Let it go!" she whined, tugging on it.

Mask shifted to the side of the creature and slammed his knee into its stomach. Baphomet groaned out before the darkness circuited his body.

Spinning around Mask swung his staff upwards, the weapon growing wide again, before he cracked it down over Baphomet's back.

Moon grunted before forcing her energy through the blade. In Baphomet's hand the lance grew and became white hot, forcing him to release it.

Once freed Moon leapt back and slammed the blade down onto the ground. "Moon Blade Slash!" A familiar flash of light overtook her field of vision as the disc slicing into the ground and flew to Baphomet. The beast pushed off the ground and threw itself into the air.

Mask slashed upwards with his staff and parried the incoming disc, forcing it into the air as well. "Prepare another attack Moon!" he ordered before he flew into the air, curtesy of his staff.

Moon nodded before watching her blade tip change size through the bright light.

Baphomet watched Mask fly towards him before he dropped from the sky, colliding with the man in mid-flight. Baphomet gripped Mask's arms with its large hands and spun around with the man before sending him crashing down onto the ground.

Mask groaned and tried to roll out of the way as Baphomet threatened to crush him under his weight. A ray of white light flying into his path forced Baphomet off course. Moon ripped her lance out of the air before she spun around and slammed it against the ground again. "Moon Blade Slash!" Before the previous glow had a chance to die down, it intensified and sent another disc of energy to the beast.

"BRAH!" Baphomet's cry was heard over the sound of the impact he made once he slammed into the ground. Smoke quickly drifted off the beast's charred fur and vibrant red blood covered its body, leaking from a diagonal slash on its chest.

"You're looking a little crispy goaty!" Moon teased.

"You'll pay for that with your life!"

In the corner of his eye Baphomet saw Mask rushing in towards him. Unable to avoid it he took the brunt of a punch Mask threw out. The beast's head buzzed for an instant, unable to comprehend a human with such strength.

Mask then brought another fist into the creature's stomach before spinning around, slamming his fist back against the beast's jaw. Baphomet's head snapped to the side and grunted as Mask forced his staff into the beast's chest; releasing another set of darts into its body instantly.

Before he had a chance to counter attack Baphomet cried out as a searing pain came from his back. Moon dropped down behind the beast, her lance reverting to normal size.

Mask slammed his staff into the ground and flew into the air, his body passing in front of the moon in the process. Baphomet only caught a glimpse of the red of his cape as Mask came back down, spinning in mid-air before he slammed his leg into the neck of the beast.

Mask grunted, feeling the resistance coming from Baphomet, but he refused to give up. Focusing his energy into his leg Mask could feel the rest of his body going numb, while his leg seemed to come alive with a burning sensation.

The force behind his kick intensified and the sound of a bone breaking in Baphomet's neck assured him he had won.

Refusing to stop, Mask's leg only continued to dig into the beast's neck. With a final flick of force Mask sent the beast flying across the clearing and crashing through several trees. The beast landed on his head once he reached the concrete, his neck snapping completely upon landing.

Moon watched in shock before Mask landed beside her, feeling draining from his leg and returning to the rest of his body.

"Tuxedo Mask... That was amazing, you were so strong, and brave." she muttered, feeling her cheeks heat up as she stared up at the masked man.

"Heh. You weren't half bad either Warrior Moon."

Baphomet's body seemed to explode in a puff of smoke that caught their attention. They approached the body cautiously and watched the smoke clear, revealing the mangled body of Mr. Kunitachi.

What little life was left in the man had been drained, his skin had gone white pale and the veins and bones in his body were easily visible under the bright lamplight. A snapped bone in his neck pierced through the skin and the wound was forming a pool of blood beside him.

"Poor Mr. Kunitachi..." Moon sighed as she crouched beside the body.

"YOU TWO, FREEZE!" From down the pathway Moon heard heavy footsteps and the booming voice of a man.

She turned in that direction and was met with intense flashlights aimed at her, along with several guns.

"Wait, no, we're not bad guys!" she shouted, waving her hands in front of her.

"Put down your weapon!"

She glanced to the massive lance she was wielding. "Oh... This looks bad."

Before she knew it, Mask wrapped a hand around her midriff and the two had been propelled into the air.

"WAAHHH! I DON'T LIKE HEIGHTS!" she wailed and began fidgeting. "DON'T DROP ME!" Her hands took a tight hold onto Mask's jacket and her eyes caught the man smiling.

"I won't let you fall, don't worry."

Moon's eyes went wide, gazing at the man's face as they glided past the moon. "Tuxedo Mask..." she whispered before pressing her head against his chest.

She didn't have any clue how long they'd been in the air, but she had been able to see nearly the entire park from a different angle. She watched the dark greens of the trees turn into lighter greens of the fields, and then into multi-coloured sections of flower beds. She watched their bodies zoom over the crystal clear lake before they descended near the water's edge.

Slowly slipping his arms from around her Mask smiled to her again. "I trust you can make it home safely." Moon nodded slowly, not wanting her time with him to end. "Thank you Warrior Moon, without your help I might not have been able to take him down."

"It was my pleasure..." she sighed happily as the man lunged back into the air, hovering back over the lake.

* * *

End of Chapter Seventeen  
**End note**: Future updates may be spaced out a bit for a while. I only have up to chapter 22 written so far and I don't want to continue posting like this if it means once we reach 22 I'll have to rush to finish all future chapters. I'd rather space things out and give myself more time to get ahead again. But we'll see, if I can get off my lazy butt and write daily we shouldn't have a problem.

* * *

Next, the Warriors meet with a new division of the Silver Guard and learn some unsettling news about the recent deaths. Makoto realizes the key different in their newest enemy compared to Jadeite, just what is the Dark Kingdom's game plan? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Eighteen - Silver Guard 2**


	18. Silver Guard 2

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about.

**- ericaphoenix16: **That's what I was going for.

**- DonovanX:** Thank you and yeah Hiruzen's Adamantine staff lol, I can see the resemblance.

**- BelieveInUs**: Good, I've been trying to work on my gore.

**- avesiji: **Thanks, I'm glad the darker moments are coming through well.

**- StaticLove21: **Rhode Island will never be the same again!

**- Ash Devil Sadist: **Glad you're enjoying my Experiments, I need to add more overall.

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - Silver Guard 2**

* * *

**Rhode Island – Thursday, October 8****th**** 2:36 am**

"Phew, I think I need a break..." Laurie Matthews muttered in her southern twang. She'd spent all night drawing scenes on their storyboard for the Sailor V movie. "Want me to get you a snack or something?"

Across the room W.R. sat typing away on his laptop. "No." he replied with a smile as he started a new line of dialogue.

"Alright then." she sighed before she exited their dorm's lounge area and made her way down the hall.

She pushed her way into a small room across from the public restrooms and nibbled on her lip as she examined the vending machines. "Chocolate or chips..." she hummed before yawning.

"Hey Laurie!"

Laurie turned her attention to the opening bathroom door. Her roommate emerged from within and waved to her.

"Hey Cassie."

"Are you still working? You've been at it all night."

Laurie gave her a simple smile and hoped she wouldn't pry too much. "W.R. is dedicated to this project, it's inspiring. So I want to work just as hard."

Cassie shook her head in a disapproving manner. "So is the rest of the team, but that's no reason to work yourself to death. You have class in, seven hours, you should be asleep!"

"Relax Cassie." Laurie smiled sheepishly. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." Cassie muttered. Laurie's usual loose curls were matted down against her pale skin in greasy rolls.

"Whatever Cassie." Laurie rolled her eyes before she deposited a fistful of change into the machine and jabbing a selection. "I should to get back to work."

"C'mon, call it night!" Cassie pleaded, holding onto her friend's arm. "Come back to the room, if you want we can stay up and watch some movies for a bit."

Laurie scowled before she broke the girl's hold on her. "What's your problem? Are you jealous you're not working on the movie with us anymore?!"

"N – No." Cassie muttered, looking at her feet bashfully. "I just think you're doing too much. Ever since he got that check W.R.'s been working you all like dogs."

"Dogs huh?" Laurie said, ripping open a bag of chips. "That's real funny Cassie, you were one of those _dogs _not too long ago!" she replied before bumping past her.

"That's not fair. Laurie please come back!"

Laurie swung open the door to the hall and shuffled back down it with Cassie following after her. "Go back to bed Cassie, I've got work to do!" Laurie staggered before she collapsed against the wall. She dropped her bag and grasped at her chest, clawing at a burning feeling within.

"Are you okay, Laurie?" Cassie asked, approaching the girl warily.

"Leave me alone..." she rasped before clutching her throat, feeling something burning there too.

Cassie furrowed her brow as she took a slow step back. "I'm just trying to help."

Laurie stiffened as bile gathered at the back of her throat. Her body lurched violently before a thick dark matter expelled itself from her mouth.

Cassie gasped, her eyes first trained on her friend before they shifted to the black goo that rising towards the ceiling. "What is that...?"

Laurie clawed at her throat, drawing blood as the black matter continued to work its way out of her mouth. Vessels in her eyes popped, turning the white sclera red and trails of saliva ran from the girl's gaping mouth. Laurie's weak legs dropped her and she wrapped her arms around her stomach, feeling like something was pulling her inside out.

Cassie cried and pressed against the far wall as she watched the black mass grow larger and take form. "Laurie..."

Through her tears and the darkness she could barely make out the shape of men taking form from the matter. Cassie's breath hitched in her throat before she emitted a scream that managed to wake all of the sleeping residents in the hall.

* * *

**Tokyo – 6:04 am**

After a wide mouth yawn Usagi let out the most annoying combination of a whine and groan Luna had ever heard.

"I can't believe you woke me up at 6 am!" Usagi whined again. "I'll never be able to sleep through my alarm now that I'm up!" She turned around in her bed and snatched up her alarm clock, turning the alarm off.

Luna grabbed her wrist and yanked her towards the door. "Hush!" Luna hissed as she dragged the girl down the hall and the steps. "You're going to wake up the whole house." They made their way into the living room where Luna had already been, the television already set to the news channel being evidence of that.

Through Usagi's blurred vision she could make out what was happening on the screen. "You woke me up to watch the news... Luna you're supposed to be my friend, this is torture!" Usagi gripped her ankles and began rocking back and forth. Actual tears now streaming down her face.

"Be quiet! You'll wake up your parents, and you _need _to see this!" Luna slapped a hand over Usagi's mouth and took the television off mute.

"...if you have any information regarding the whereabouts of this individual." The news reporter woman was moved to the side as a black box formed in the right hand corner. In it appeared a pencil sketch of someone wearing a one-piece jumpsuit with a mask.

"THAT'S ME!" Usagi shouted, almost lunging at the television.

"Do not hesitate to call the police. This woman is believed to be involved with Tuxedo Mask, the prime suspect in the Juuban Park murders. Police say the two were spotted last night in the park over the body of the now confirmed deceased Mr. Satoshi Kunitachi. Also found dead were several civilians who had visited the park last night to attend a memorial service for the recent victims. Police are still investigating and have no further information regarding these two newest murders, but they are connecting them to Tuxedo Mask and his blue-suited accomplice."

"No way! How can they call me a criminal?!" Usagi gasped. "Kunitachi attacked me first!"

Luna simply shrugged before shaking her head. The woman was then yanked back and forth once Usagi took hold of her jacket.

"Luna you have friends in high places, make them take me off the most wanted list!"

"It doesn't work like that." Luna admitted, prying her needy hands off. "The police won't stop investigating you, or anyone for that matter, unless they have reason to look into someone else. Our best bet was to find who was really behind it."

Usagi rubbed her watery eyes and sniffled. "But Mr. Kunitachi is dead now..."

"Exactly."

"Can't we just wait for the police to figure it out? They should have evidence I didn't do it!"

Luna bit the inside of her cheek before shaking her head again. "The monster you fought, you said it's name was Baphomet?"

Usagi nodded. "That's what it called itself."

"Then our next best bet is that the Dark Kingdom is behind it all." Luna eased down into a cross-legged sitting position and tapped her lips. "But we can't exactly pin it on a particular one of them either, let alone hand someone over to the police."

"What if the murders stop? And then someone from the Guard feeds lies to the police, explaining it really was Kunitachi? That's enough proof right?"

Luna raised the corner of her mouth and bobbed her head from side to side, weighing the options. "I suppose so. I'll talk to Kalla later, see if he can't push the police force in the right direction."

"I need food..." Usagi groaned and crawled away to the kitchen. Heading to her usual stache she grabbed bags of cookies and chips.

"Put down the junk and get ready for school." Luna snapped, watching Usagi rip open a new bag.

"But-"

Luna shook her head before snatching the bag away. "Go."

Usagi narrowed her eyes at Luna before stomping out of the kitchen. "Man..."

"By the way, bring Mako to the arcade after school. I'll meet you girls there." Luna reminded, looking over the cookies.

"OOO! Are we gonna have another arcade tournament day?!" Usagi squealed in delight.

"Hardly, we'll meet up there and head to the headquarters together."

"This day keeps getting worse..."

* * *

Beryl had been so absorbed in the amount of energy that was being transported in she failed to notice two scientists waiting near the entrance to her chamber.

"Should we – let her know we're here...?" One of them asked meekly.

Tsuna nibbled on his lip before turning around and heading back to the entrance. "Best to make it look like we just arrived..." he mumbled before he walked back, past his fellow worker and into the center of the chamber.

"Ahh, you're here." Beryl said coolly, coming down off her giddy high.

"Yes my Queen." Tsuna bowed.

"It is rare one of your kind wishes to meet with me, it had better be worth it." she stated. Slowly she lifted her hand up and with it up floated the spherical mass of energy.

Tsuna nodded before rising to his feet with trembling knees. "Well," he adjusted his glasses before scrunching up his face. "I wanted to tell you that master Zoisite, he – he created and withdrew an Experiment without proper documentation..." Tsuna unfolded a sheet of paper from his pocket. "It was... Loki, of the Norse."

Beryl eased back into her throne and narrowed her eyes at the man. "Zoisite!" Her voice seemed to rattle the two humans and soon after a spot on the hard floor turned soft and from it emerged the strawberry blonde Shitennou.

"Yes my Queen?"

"Is it true you've been using an Experiment without first having it approved?" she asked calmly.

"Not true at all." he responded, casting a glare to Tsuna.

Beryl laced her fingers, before sitting up. "I will say it only once, our forces are not to be toyed with. Any and all reincarnations must be recorded and their actions monitored! Now leave!" With a wave of her hand she dismissed the men.

Zoisite trailed after a nervous Tsuna who met with his fellow worker near the doorway. Closing a large stone door behind him Zoisite snatched up the two men before hurling them against the wall. Both men coughed hard before Zoisite's claws wrapped around their throats.

"How dare you go to Beryl about my actions!" he hissed.

"B – But we're supposed to report all data concerning Experiments, and no one is allowed to use one without-"

Zoisite rolled his eyes before a light raced down his arm, through his fingers and into the man's body. Tsuna watched in horror as the scientist's body expanded rapidly before exploding in the hall. The steamy remains of his body tainted the stone hall, and half of Tsuna's face.

Releasing the man, Zoisite stepped back from the scene. Tsuna collapsed onto the floor and scrambled away from the mess of remains.

"Clean it up." Zoisite commanded before he vanished from the hall.

* * *

"What time did Luna say she'd be here?" Naru asked with a glance to the wall clock.

"She didn't say – C'MON!" Usagi whined as she watched her Sailor V character get blasted by an enemy. The girl flailed in her seat at the arcade machine before depositing another quarter. "AGAIN!"

Naru's eyes drifted across the room to the counter were Makoto was, leaning over and chatting with Motoki. "Those two are cute together..." she sighed.

"Yeah – uh huh." Usagi muttered, jiggling around the joystick.

"You don't even know who I'm talking about!" Naru snapped before mashing some of the game's buttons and throwing off Usagi's concentration.

"NARU! How could you?!" Usagi cried as Sailor V was blasted again. "I could have won..."

"Pay attention!" Naru said, pointing to Makoto who was playfully twirly a stand of hair. "Look at them."

"What about them...?" Usagi asked sadly.

"You used to have a big crush on him, but you just let Makoto swoop in and take him off your hands."

Usagi frowned slightly. "He makes her happy, what kind of friend would I be if I had a problem with that? Besides I have someone else now." she said deviously.

"Who?"

"Tuxedo Mask!" she giggled wildly, kicking her legs out in front of her. "Last night in the park..." she paused, wrapping her arms around herself.

Naru sneered jealously at her. "I'm glad you thought last night was worth it. Not only did I spend half an hour looking for you. I came across those gross animals..." After screaming for a good five minutes last night Makoto found her and called the police to retrieve the bodies.

Usagi hummed contently before a bell went off, signaling someone had entered the arcade. She spun around in her stool and saw Luna and Artemis standing at the door.

"Time to go..." Usagi groaned.

"Be safe!" Naru squeezed Usagi before she headed past her. "I'm off to the club!"

"Makoooo, say goodbye to your boyfriend we gotta go!" Usagi howled, louder than she should have, as she gathered her things.

Makoto blushed and Motoki chuckled nervously before they said their goodbyes.

"Don't embarrass me like that Usagi!" Makoto chided as they exited the arcade, following the Protectors.

"Heheheh, sorry." she lied before opening the car door and sliding it, nearly squishing Minako who was waiting in the backseat. "Mina!"

"Hey Usagi, Mako." she replied with a smile. The girl closed a fashion magazine and scooted closer to the door so all of them could fit in the back comfortably.

"Why are we heading to HQ anyway?" Makoto asked as she buckled up.

"Briefing." Artemis answered, pulling the car away from the curb.

"There was a death in America that we're looking into, and we just got the body." Luna added. "There hasn't been too much to go on as of yet, but with last night's attack, we can be sure the Dark Kingdom is involved. Speaking of, the body of the man from last night is waiting for us there, Usagi."

"Great..." she droned, resting her head on Minako's shoulder.

After a long drive through the city the group arrived at the university. They all filed out of the car and then through the school, reaching the familiar elevator.

"Up right?" Usagi asked, ready to press the button to take them to the tenth floor.

Artemis instead pressed a button labeled B5. "Actually, we're heading to the Division of Science and Research, led by Losna and Ilargi."

"Sounds fancy..." Makoto mused as the box transported them to the basement.

When the doors opened they revealed numerous glass walls that separated a large tan room into offices and laboratories. The girls silently followed the Protectors through the space, eventually down a small flight of stairs before entering a cold room with grey operating slabs spread across the room. Dozens of men and women moved across the floor, clutching clipboards with white lab coats swaying behind them.

"This is Losna's lab." Artemis stated. "Everyone here works for and under her."

"No way..." Usagi muttered. "She's so little though."

"Welcome girls." A woman said off to the right. Walking towards them Saeko Mizuno approached carrying several clipboards that she handed out. "We've been expecting you."

"Ms. Mizuno?!" Usagi gasped. "You work here? But you're a doctor!"

Saeko gave off her signature smile before fixing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yes, I work both at the hospital and here with the Silver Guard. My grandparents often told me stories of the Moon Kingdom and the long lives of the Lunarians, it fascinated me." she continued with a glance to Artemis.

"Luna, if Ami's mom works here why do you think she's working with the Dark Kingdom?" Usagi asked dryly.

Luna's eyes went wide and a pained expression crossed Saeko's face.

"You think my daughter-?"

"Saeko, we can discuss this later..." said Luna. "Can we see the bodies now?"

Saeko narrowed her eyes at Luna before walking past her briskly. "This way."

As the group followed her Luna shot Usagi dangerous glare that Usagi regarded with an innocent shrug.

Saeko led them across the room to the western wall where she led them through a narrow hall. At the end of which, to their right were another series of glass walls that made up an autopsy room. They followed her around before they entered the largest of the rooms, where three bodies were situated on slabs, each with a white cover over them.

Saeko walked past each of the slabs and uncovered the bodies, stopping the cover at their waists. After each was uncovered the girls surveyed the bodies. The first of a young boy with sunken in cheeks and a frail and emaciated body.

"This is Kijin Shinokawa, he was the young man found dead in America." Saeko fished a small polaroid from her coat pocket and passed it around the group.

"He doesn't look anything like this..." Makoto muttered, looking at photo taken while he was alive. "He's so skinny and frail, and his hair..." The boy's once bushy brown and red streaked hair was nearly all white and laid flat against the slab.

"Poor kid." Usagi said as she was handed the picture.

"This is the first victim found in Juuban Park, Hikaru Sorano." Saeko said, directing their attention to the next body.

"Hikaru..." Minako muttered, inching closer to the body.

"Mina, do you know her?" Luna asked.

Minako nodded slowly. "We went to elementary school together..." she tilted her head and allowed her eyes to gaze over Hikaru's emaciated features.

"I'm sorry." Saeko said before looking at the next body. "This is Satoshi Kunitachi."

Usagi scrunched up her face seeing the man again, he looked nearly the same as he did in the park, but under the powerful lab light she could see all the cuts and bruises on his body.

"Losna has discovered that these bodies still retain a bit of life in them." Saeko stated, gesturing to Kijin and Satoshi. "It seems, like in Mr. Kunitachi's case, something was controlling or inhabiting their bodies. At the time of their deaths it seems whatever it was was unable to completely leave the body."

"Did she figure out a cause of death?" asked Artemis as he looked over the data on the clipboard.

"Well, it would appear Hikaru's death was a somewhat natural one, she was a victim of Mr. Kunitachi and whatever was controlling him. But for young Kijin and Mr. Kunitachi, she came to the conclusion their hearts simply gave out after a prolonged overexertion of energy. Whatever was controlling them pushed their bodies to the limit and drained it all out of them." Saeko answered.

Makoto frowned, her eyes fixed on Kijin still. "Hey, you said the thing controlling them couldn't leave their body, why not?"

"I can answer that." Nikkal said from the doorway. The woman sauntered across the room before pausing beside the first operating table, her long raven hair coiled tight into a bun. "It's like having a glass of ice water, when you drink it you'll get some ice along with the water. But once the water's all gone, and there's only a few pieces of ice left in the glass, how do you get them out?"

"Tip the glass over?" answered Usagi sheepishly.

"And if that doesn't work?"

Minako snapped her fingers. "I usually put my hand in the glass to get the ice out!"

"Exactly. " Nikkal smiled. "Now lets imagine the cup opening is small and your hand gets stuck. Think of that cup as the human body. The monster controlling the human was trying to get the last bit of ice, or energy, out. In the process a piece of them has gotten stuck inside, clinging to the last sliver of energy residing inside."

"Does that mean it's still in their bodies, even now?" Makoto asked, looking over Kijin's body noticing a thick brown belt wrapped around his waist under the cover.

"Correct, we've strapped them down to be safe." Saeko added, noticing Makoto's eyes. "There's no telling when their bodies may reanimate."

"You hear that Usagi?" Minako started. "We've got zombies on our hands..." she teased.

"Minako, don't do that!" Usagi groaned.

"OoOoOoOoOoO..." Minako started to creep closer to Usagi, wiggling her fingers at her like groping claws.

"Stop..." Usagi whined, hiding behind Makoto.

"Relax Usagi, we're safe." Minako offered with a chuckle.

Usagi's eyes went wide as Mr. Kunitachi's body lifted up from his slab. His black sclera and white iris and pupils bore into Usagi and his mummified arms outstretched to Minako.

"AHHHHHH!" Usagi shrieked, clutching Makoto.

Minako whipped around and she too shrieked, leaping into Artemis's arms.

"Oof!" Artemis huffed as Minako wrapped arms around his neck. "Hey! You just said we were safe, why are you acting so scared?"

"Relax..." Nikkal said calmly before pulling a small syringe from her coat pocket and injecting it into the man's neck. The body went limp before it collapsed onto the slab again.

Saeko nodded. "We've prepared for that to happen. Even if they are still being controlled, with their weak human forms they're not strong enough to break the restrains."

Usagi rested a hand on her rapidly beating heart as she inched away from Makoto, leaning against one of the tables. "I can't handle this..." she sighed.

Nikkal lit up as something occurred to her. "Have you shown them the marks?" she asked.

Saeko shook her head before she flipped through a few pages on her board. "No, not yet."

"Have a look then." Nikkal ran her hand over Mr. Kunitachi's forehead, brushing back his hair and exposing a star outline surrounded by two thin circle outlines, burned into his skin.

"What is it?" asked Luna, squinting to get a good look at it.

"It's a curse mark, it allowed Baphomet to enter the man's body." Nikkal answered before moving down to Kijin and showing a mark on the palm of his hand. Burned into the flesh was a dark red kanji that Luna wasn't familiar with.

The room was suddenly lit up by the flash of a camera. All eyes fell on Usagi who sat crossed legged on the table with a large black camera in her hands.

"Whoops..." she chuckled before grinning to the room.

"Stop messing with things Usagi, put it back." Luna snapped. "That's one of Kijin's personal effects!"

Usagi frowned before she clicked through the camera. "Sorry, I'll delete the picture..." she paused at one picture of a desert landscape.

Minutes past and Saeko continued to brief the group on the bodies while Usagi continued to fiddle with the camera.

"Usagi, I told you to put it down!" Luna shouted and the blonde jolted.

"Fine!" she whined before clicking through one more picture. "Hey – wait."

Luna huffed before stomping across the room and snatching it away from the girl. "Pay attention!"

"No, Luna, stop!" Usagi whined tugging back on the camera. "I found something in the picture!"

"Like what?!"

"This!" Usagi shoved the camera into Luna's face and tapped the screen. "Look, here in the bottom right."

Luna blinked several times, taking in the entirety of the picture. It was of a collection of large rocks near the canyon. Usagi's poorly painted finger nail directed her attention to a shadowy figure in the distance. It had a thin body with large pointed shoulders and seemed to be wrapped in a flowing dress.

"Saeko, has anyone from Ilargi's Division looked through this camera's film?" asked Luna, eyeing the figure carefully now. It definitely wasn't a human.

"No, not yet."

"Am I free to take it? I'd like to drop this off with her then, there's something here she should see." Luna pointed the camera at her before slipping the strap over her shoulder.

"Yes, we're done with it. Well, that was all the information we have so far on the bodies." Saeko said with a sigh. Nikkal nodded as she began to cover the bodies back up.

"Does that mean we're done?" Makoto asked.

"Yup." Artemis said. "You girls can head on home if you want."

"I want!" Usagi cheered.

"Or," Luna added. "you can stay and get some training in."

"Sounds good to me. It's been quiet around here, I don't want my skills getting rusty." Makoto said, beginning to work her arm in circles. "I'm down to train."

"Head on up to the training room, I'll meet you girls there." Luna said before leaving the room.

Usagi dropped her shoulders, defeated. "I just wanna go back to the arcade..." she groaned before Minako laced arms with her.

"We can go to the arcade after we train a bit." the blonde assured.

Exiting the lab the girls were greeted by Gesi and Desi who were standing guard at the entrance.

"What's up girls?" Desi asked cheerfully.

"About to get a workout in." Makoto answered, getting her pre-training stretch on in the hallway.

"What are you two up to?" Minako asked.

"We've been asked to keep a watch over the lab, in case the bodies break free." answered Gesi.

With a glance back into the autopsy room Minako sighed. "I don't understand why they don't just take them away from their misery..."

"Put them out of their misery." corrected Artemis as he exited the lab. "And it's because as they are, they're perfect test subjects. We need to learn as much as we can before the next attack. Since we don't exactly know who we're dealing with, we have to take any leads we can get."

Makoto furrowed her brow and hummed. "I just realized, there hasn't really been any Dark Kingdom creep around lately. Not since Jadeite."

"What about that guy in the Wonder Show tent?" offered Usagi. "He seemed evil."

"True, but I mean, this is just different." Makoto said. "Before there were monsters in the streets, in public. But now, it's like we have to hunt them down, or just stumble upon them."

"I don't like it..." Usagi muttered.

* * *

"What the hell was that?!"

Sonoko's racket clattered against the court as she held her throbbing wrist. She hadn't even realized she'd dropped her racket, the pain was the only thing she could register.

The others on the court stood in shock. Ai had been buried in her book but looked up noticing the court had gone quiet. Naru's eyes had been locked on Masato's backside but her focus was broken seeing the player collapse onto the court. Masato and Tensuni shared a smirk before they looked across the court to Rui. The girl stood with one hand cocked on her hip and the other holding out her racket.

"If you can't play get off the court!" she demanded.

Sonoko scoffed before she shifted into a sitting position, clutching her wrist. "What kind of serve was that!" she shouted. "It feels like my wrist is broken!"

"Relax, relax..." Masato called. "I'm sure it's fine." The man walked onto the court, towards Rui, smiling at her strength. "But if you can't handle her serve, then perhaps this isn't the place for you."

"Are you kicking me out?" Sonoko asked and glanced to the side of the court as two of her friends rushed to her.

"You can't do that!" Hana said, helping her friend stand while the other girl, Ran, looked at her swollen wrist.

"This is _my _club isn't it?" Masato's deep voice echoed across the indoor court.

"The court belongs to Mr. Kojima!" Hana shouted. "Just because you threw some money at him and he put your name on the deed doesn't make it yours!"

"It's more his than it is yours." Tensuni sneered from the far wall. "Now leave."

"C'mon Sonoko, we can find somewhere else to play..." Ran said as she led her friend off the court.

"Good job Rui." Masato congratulated.

"Heh, thanks." The girl looked over her racket. "I guess some people just can't handle true power."

On the sidelines Ai scooted closer to Naru who was scribbling something into a notebook. "Rui's changed..."

"Hm?" Naru looked up at the girl. "Oh, well I mean when you practice as much as she does, you tend to get better I suppose." she offered with a simple shrug.

Ai shook her head. "I mean her attitude. She's mean now, and only cares about winning." the girl sighed and hunched over. "She's changed."

Naru furrowed her brow before casting the girl a skeptical look. "You really should mind your own business, and don't talk about my sister like that!"

"I'm just telling the truth." Ai replied with a sigh. "No need to get defensive."

Naru shot up with a huff, gathered her school books and took off across the court.

* * *

**Friday, October 9th**

The next morning Usagi's eyes fluttered open, revealing her sun filled bedroom and series of unfamiliar shapes and colours around her. She shot up in and bed and began to viciously rub her eyes until her vision cleared.

"No way..." she muttered once she could accurately make out what was happening. At the foot of her bed sat Luna and Iah. Leaning against the opposite wall was Desi and Kalla was crouched at her bedside.

"It's about time you woke up brat!" he barked.

"AHH!" Usagi shrieked, tugging the covers up to her neck. "Why are you all in my room?!"

Luna slid her legs off the bed and headed towards the closet. "We've been assigned an important job and time is of the essence."

"Important enough that you all had to watch me sleep...?" she muttered, sinking back down into bed.

Iah placed a hand on a lump under the covers that turned out to be Usagi's knee. "We've only been here a three hours, no need to worry Usagi." he replied with a smile.

"That doesn't make me feel better."

After digging around in the closet Luna emerged with Usagi's school clothes in hand. "Get up Usagi, I can explain it all while you get ready for school." she said as she tossed her uniform onto her bed.

After hopping in and out of the shower Usagi sat on her bathroom sink, doing her hair up into her signature double buns. Occasionally she watched the Protectors chatting to themselves, all of them sitting on the edge of her bathtub.

"This is too freaky." she mumbled as Luna reentered the room.

Closing the door behind her, Luna propped herself against the wall and examined a manilla folder in her hands. "Yesterday at the lab, what you saw in Kijin's camera. Ilargi believes it was most definitely the Youma that killed the boy."

Usagi dropped her gaze to the sink as she wrapped a strand of hair around the bun. "Okay..."

"She's been running the blown up image through our database since last night, looking for a connection to a previous monster we may have encountered." Iah added. "Nothing has matched so far."

"Next, and most importantly; there was a death of a young girl in the United States yesterday morning." Luna said, flipping through the pages in the folder. "The death by itself is worth looking into, but on top of that there have been a string of strange occurrences happening at the school since."

"What kind of stuff?" asked Usagi.

"Ilargi picked up a peculiar energy signal from that area," Iah replied. "she linked it to the time of death of the girl. After that there were several more energy signals similar to the first. There haven't been anymore deaths yet, but that doesn't mean it can't happen again."

"The Warriors need to head there and figure out what's going on!" Desi announced, slamming a fist into the wall.

Usagi went bug-eyed at the woman, hoping she wouldn't wake up her parents. "Wait – whoa! Luna you said the United States! I can't travel across the world, how -"

"The preparations have already begun." Kalla interjected. "There will be a plane waiting for you and the others this evening, and we'll all arrive in Rhode Island by the morning. You only need to make an excuse to your parents about your absence. Tell them you're having a slumber party as someone's house, girls do that stuff right?"

"Have Mina and Mako been told?"

Luna nodded. "They both woke up to a similar scene this morning."

Usagi turned from the mirror and furrowed her brow, mulling it over. "I can't believe it, this is happening all over the place."

Luna nodded again before heading to the door. "We'll leave you to finish getting ready. We'll all meet at the arcade tonight at ten, don't be late."

Hours later, Usagi grazed her hand across a flyer taped to her locker. "Bride Affair: The Wedding Dress Contest." she read aloud. She dropped back against the wall of lockers before tearing the paper off. "Come and create your dream wedding dress for the chance to have your entire wedding reception paid for!"

"Oh Usagi, you found it!" Umino cheered coming down the hall.

Usagi raised her eyebrows curiously and held the flyer up at him. "This? What is it?"

Umino smiled and revealed a stack of the same flyers in his arms. "Juuban Hall is hosting a wedding dress contest, it's going to be aired live across the city! Brides-to-be get to create a dress and the viewers call in and vote on which dress they like. The winners get their wedding completely paid for!"

"Wow..." Usagi said, looking over the flyer again. "That sounds so romantic! A dream wedding, completely paid for. I wonder who has the money to put something like this together..."

"Masato Sanjouin."

Usagi's eyes opened wide hearing Naru's voice coming off to the left. "Don't tell me he's hosting this thing..."

Naru paused beside her and simply nodded her head. "He's not the host, but he created it. It was his idea and he's bought out space at the Hall to put this all on. He even hired OSA-P to provide jewels for the show!" Naru squealed and squeezed Usagi's arm. "Mom is getting such a fat paycheck for this, I can't wait to go shopping!"

"When do they start filming?" asked Usagi.

"Next Friday!" Naru quipped. "But the work has already started, I've been helping mom pick out assortments of jewels for the brides to wear and I even get to help with some of the dresses! You should see them Usagi, they're so pretty..." she cooed.

While the girls continued to chatter about the event, across the hall their home-economics teacher, Hirgure Akiyama, listened intently to every word said.

"I wish I could make a dress and win! I have the perfect wedding in mind!" Usagi whined, flailing her arms in frustration. "White roses... A huge chocolate cake, as tall as the ceiling!" Usagi's mind drifted to her groom, the gorgeous masked thief. "Yes, perfect!"

"You're much too young to be getting married, don't you think Usagi?" Ami asked coming down the hall.

Usagi dropped her shoulders. "Don't bust my bubble Ami..."

"Hey Ami, did you hear about the contest?" Umino asked.

"Yes, I pass by the Hall on my way to school every morning." Ami opened her school bag and revealed a stack of flyers inside. "The host of the contest asked me to hand these out."

From around the corner Higure emerged, inching closer to her students. "Excuse me, would you mind if I have one of them Ami?"

"Oh sure, here Mrs. Akiyama." Ami smiled to her teacher before handing her the flyer. "Are you thinking about entering?"

"I'm actually getting married rather soon..." Higure's eyes shined looking over the flyer. "When I was a little girl all I wanted was a big beautiful wedding. But my parents passed away and I just don't make enough to afford something big, it would be so nice to win..."

Usagi smiled watching her teacher look over the flyer intently. Higure was one of her favorites, she never minded when she took naps during her class. "I hope you win, you deserve it!"

After school girls headed over to the Crown Fruit Parlor where Usagi complained to Makoto about their latest mission.

"Mako, how are you feeling about this?" Usagi asked as she nibbled on her drink straw. Makoto sat across from her while Naru copied the girl's math homework.

"I mean, if it's what needs to be done I don't have a problem with it. It is kind of our job." Makoto offered. "I never expected it to take us out of Japan though."

"Life isn't fair..." Usagi mumbled. "Someone is going to get a beautiful wedding and lots of cake and presents, meanwhile we're being shipped off to America. Who knows where we'll be going!"

"Cheer up Usagi!"

The blonde shifted her gaze to the left, taking notice of Minako and Rei standing there.

"Mina!" she squealed.

The girl waved to the group. "Hey. Rei and I were around and that boy in the arcade said you guys were up here." Minako said as she slid into the booth with Usagi while Rei fetched a chair.

"Motoki is working?" Makoto asked, considering getting up to go talk to him.

"Is that his name?" Minako asked, tapping her lip. "Short blonde hair, wearing an apron?"

Makoto nodded.

"Yup, he's downstairs talking to some pretty woman."

"Another woman?" Makoto asked dimly.

"So, what're you guys talking about?" Rei interrupted.

"Our next mission, Rei are you coming with us to America?" asked Makoto, Rei only shrugged.

"I would love to visit America, I hear it's beautiful there..." Naru sighed. "Sometimes I'm really jealous of you Usagi."

"Did you forget? This isn't a vacation, we're there to investigate and we'll probably end up fighting some Dark Kingdom trash..." Usagi muttered, stabbing her the bottom of her glass with the straw.

"Yeah, that's why I said sometimes." Naru quipped with a smile.

"Are you going to be okay here without us around Naru?" asked Minako. "Even though it is just for the weekend."

"I'll be fine."

"Promise me you won't get into any danger!" Usagi pleaded.

"I promise! Besides, I have Rei if something happens." Naru replied and nudged Rei with a smile.

"Pfft..." Usagi huffed. "You'd be safer with a poodle watching your house."

"Are you suggesting a dog could do my job better?!" Rei snapped.

"That's what I said." Usagi sang, glancing out the window.

"I don't know what's going on between you two, or why you hate her so much." Makoto snorted with a shake of the head.

"Tell them Rei!" Usagi whipped back around to her. "She saw that report about me being an accomplice to Tuxedo Mask and threatened to turn me over to the police!" Usagi screeched.

All eyes fell on Rei who was beginning to giggle uncontrollably.

"She thinks she's funny, but that wasn't funny at all!"

Naru and Makoto shared a snigger while Usagi sniffled.

* * *

**6:20 pm**

Higure strolled through her favorite fabric store located in the mall. Her heart swelled at the feeling of the soft fabric, but dropped every time she caught glimpse of the price.

"All the fabrics I get for my class is so cheap... This is unbelievable." she sighed, letting go of another price tag. "I'll never be able to afford any of these."

Higure's eyes went wide as a light violet fabric drifted over her face and wrapped around her shoulders.

"This colour makes your eyes pop." A woman said from behind.

Higure held the fabric to her as she turned, looking up at the olive-skinned woman with dark blue hair standing behind her. "Y – You think so?"

"She's right." Masato answered, walking past a crowd of women carrying a long roll of the fabric.

Higure looked down at the fabric, running her fingers over it. "It is nice, but probably costs a fortune..."

"I've created a wedding dress contest, if you were to enter. I'd be more than happy to give you a voucher for the fabric." Masato offered.

"A voucher?"

He nodded. "I'd like as many women as possible to enter the contest, so I'm working with local fabric shops to get as many women in as possible." From within his jacket pocket Masato revealed a red voucher. "Give it to the clerk."

"Oh, thank you..." Higure smiled and looked over the voucher. "But I don't know if I'll be able to enter. It's only a week away and with my job, I don't know if I'll have the time..."

"Nonsense." Masato growled. "Widou here will help you."

The woman, Widou, smiled before taking the roll of fabric off his hands. "I would love to help you create your dress, I'm quite the expert when it comes to working with silk."

"Oh, thank you!"

* * *

**9:39 pm**

Trotting down the nearly empty sidewalk Naru clutched a small purse to her chest as she headed towards her destination. After seeing how exhausted her mother had been after spending hours with the fashion coordinators for the wedding contests; sampling jewels and filming a small ad that would advertise the show, Naru had offered to head to Juuban Hall to finish up some of the sowing.

Upon reaching the Hall, a large two story building with a glass rooftop, she fished the set of keys out of the purse.

"Umm... I think it was this one." she hummed looking over the keys under the buzzing lamp. After finding the one that looks familiar she slid it into the lock. "Bingo!" she chirped as the door lock clicked with approval.

Naru locked herself inside and began turning on as few lights as possible to light her way to the lounge. Like her mother assured her, all of the supplies and dresses were already out.

Naru gaped at the beautiful white wedding dresses that were draped across long couches. Boxes from OSA-P sat stacked in the corner, that's where she headed first.

Tucked inside were instructions about which jewels needed sowed into which dresses and which sets of jewelery were to be set aside for the possible brides.

After a little over an hour had passed Naru plopped down on one of the couches. Exhausted after she had finished sowing a string of beads into the neckline of several dresses for the event.

Stuffing her needles, spools of thread and thimbles back into her purse she sighed. "Now I see why mom was so pooped."

Naru's eyes drifted from the contents of her bag to the ivory gown beside her. Her hand snuck its way over and ghosted over the fabric, daring a few gentle touches, Naru awed a the feeling of the dress.

Although she'd spent a chunk of her night sowing things into the dresses, she hadn't taken the time to really appreciate them for their beauty.

This particular one was off-white, with a lace top that left a oval of the back exposed. At the back a ribbon was tied where it would be on the waist. The rest of the dress was a soft fabric covered with another layer of lace that extending in a wide circle of a train in the back.

Naru sighed again. "I wish I was getting married..." She frowned and ran her fingers over a line of gems that had been woven in near the shoulders. "Just to wear something so pretty."

"Hmph!" She huffed and shot up from her seat, snatching up the dress with her. "Who says I have to be married to wear it!"

Crossing the lobby she stopped in front of the floor length mirror propped against the wall. Rather than try and slip into the gown she stood still, transfixed by the sight of the gown as she held it to her body.

She smiled to herself contently before releasing the bow that kept most of her hair up. Letting the red waves crash down onto her shoulders Naru held the dress closer and began to sway. Humming a tune, she turned left and right, spinning around and throwing the train of the dress out, admiring how it flowed.

Naru's solo dance as a pseudo-bride was short lived as a thud in the hallway caught her attention.

She shrieked and dropped the dress to her feet, crouching down beside it only a moment later. "No one else should be here!" she hissed.

Keeping low to the ground she scurried to the entranceway to the lobby and glanced down each of the halls. The thud occurred again, coming from the hall to her right. She whimpered and listen to the sound of a rapid footsteps come from the same direction.

"Rei!" Naru reminded herself before she dashed across the room and dove for the couch. Digging through her purse she withdrew a small black phone and dialed in a number.

"Hello?"

"REI! It's Naru!"

"Oh hey, what's up? Did you need something?"

"I think someone is here!" Naru rasped.

"Okay... And where exactly is here?"

"I'm at Juuban Hall, I heard a thud and someone walking! Can you come please?"

"Oh great... Naru, I'm on my way to the airport to see Usagi off."

Naru furrowed her brow and whined. "But you're supposed to protect me!"

"Ugh, why did they put me on babysitter duty." Rei mumbled. "Look, I'll call someone from headquarters, just stay where you are."

"AHH!" Naru jumped hearing another thud, louder and closer than the first two.

"What happened?"

"More thuds..." she murmured. "I'm going to check it out..."

"No! Naru! Stay where you are, hide if you need to!"

"It's okay Rei, I took a self-defense class. I can handle myself!" Naru ended the call at that and tossed the phone back into her purse. "I'll show them I don't need to be babysat." Digging her hand back into her purse Naru curled her fingers around two objects. Cocking her wrist she pulled back a small pink bottle labeled pepper spray and a kitchen knife.

Easing herself off the couch Naru flicked the cap off the spray nozzle and clutched her knife tightly. She slid along the walls before pausing at the entranceway. She froze hearing footsteps come to the halt just on the other side on the wall.

She listened to her heart pound before hearing someone knock twice against the wall. Following the knocks came a thud from within the wall. Naru stepped back from it and listened to small taps coming from the wall.

With a hoarse cry Naru held the knife to her chest and dashed around the corner. A moment later she felt herself run into something, or someone. Instantly she opened her eyes and took a slow glance upwards to what was in front of her.

With a pained grunt Masato shot her a dangerous glare before Naru's eyes darted back to her hands. They were still clutching her weapon for dear life. It was then she'd realized what she'd done, she'd stabbed Masato.

The man's legs seemed to give way under him as he collapsed against the wall. Naru's eyes filled with panic as she watched a spot of blood spread around the knife.

"Masato! I'm so sorry!" Her fragile hands jittered around the knife while a battle raged within her. Half of her wanted to pull the knife free and the other wanted to leave it in. "Wait here, I'll get the first aid kit!"

Naru tore off from the hallway and Masato slid down to the ground with a groan. This damn human woman had really stabbed him! Had he not been undercover she would have been reduced to ash in a second.

Naru was too paranoid now; she wasn't always like that, she told herself now she had a reason to be. With everything Usagi was dealing with it was hard not to be scared about what's out there anymore. Still, as she dashed back into the lounge, she couldn't help but feel terrible for stabbing the man.

In the lounge she quickly dove for a box sitting beside one of the couches, inside she found several white cases that were supposed to be first-aid kits. Opening one of the kits Naru scrunched up her face in confusion, apparently, to the tailors, an emergency meant someone needed their hemming fixed or a stain removed. All she found in the kit were lines of thread, needles, and patches.

She tossed the kit aside before digging out a few more of the white boxes before finding one with bandages and some kind of gel. Before she jumped to her feet Naru snatched up one of the tailor's kits and ran back into the hallway. Masato was pressed against the wall, looking more upset than pained.

"Sorry!" Naru cried again before running her hands along the man's shoulders and slipping his sports jacket off. Her trembling hands fiddled with his shirt buttons before she managed to get them all undone and slip the shirt off over the knife. Naru felt herself calm down looking at the wound up close, the knife hadn't gone very far in and Masato didn't seem to be in any life threatening pain.

Naru pulled two rolls of gauze and a small container of ointment from the first kit.

"I think – I should take the knife out now..." Naru whispered and Masato simply nodded to her as she wrapped her fingers around the grip. With a slow pull she the tip of the knife dislodged itself and sent an increased flow of blood leaking down Masato's body. The man groaned as the dull pain throbbed in his chest.

Naru gripped the bottom of her blouse and quickly tore off a long strip, shortening her shirt by a few inches in the process. Quickly she pressed the fabric to the man's body and began to clear away the blood that was leaking.

She decided to clean the wound first, and try to stop the bleeding. Slowly she positioned herself between his legs and balled up her strip of fabric and pressed it to the wound. Masato hissed at her and she mouthed an apology and began to apply pressure. "We gotta stop the bleeding."

In between checking under the fabric, Naru glanced upwards, she saw distance in Masato's blue eyes. The normal warmth she felt when she gazed up on him was gone, along with the inviting presence he gave off. Biting the inside of her cheek, she returned her attention to his body, the bleeding seemed to have stopped.

Naru reached for the ointment, her eyes gazing at Masato's body. Her eyes wandered to his chest, his toned abs; although she'd seen men shirtless before, she wasn't prepared for how beautiful this one looked up close.

Heat warmed her cheeks and she cursed herself silently as she squeeze the container, the cloudy ointment formed a curled ring on her palm.

The attraction she felt towards his man, that started as a spark when she saw him at the tennis courts, had only grown more intense the more she saw him; regardless of what she knew about relationships and how it would be wrong for her to have such feelings about him. No matter how hard she tried, Naru couldn't erase the image of Masato from her mind.

Try as she might, her crush on him would not go away. Knowing the trouble she could bring him, Naru kept her crush to herself, admiring the eccentric business man from a distance.

Her hand quivering subtlety, Naru pressed her fingers against the flesh around the wound on his chest. He didn't flinch; his gaze only flickered to her momentarily. She gave him a slight smile and went to work spreading the ointment around the gash his body. Warmth encased her as her hands wandered from the wound and ended up running over all of Masato's chest and down across his stomach; his skin was smooth and his muscles were taut under her fingers.

Naru wondered if Masato was paying attention to her and if the heat she felt swimming over her could cause her to faint. Shaking off the feeling she grabbed a pack of bandages and tape. She told herself to focus on covering the wound, ignore him, and his body.

But it was hard to do once she came in closer and fixed the bandage over the wound and ran the gauze around to keep the bandage in place.

"Are you okay?"

At the sound of his voice she dropped the gauze into his lap. It had been so silent, and she had been so lost in her thoughts, that his voice had truly terrified her. She bit the inside of her cheek again before tilting her head to the side and nodding.

"I'm okay."

Masato raised one thick brown eyebrow, but said nothing else. Trying to get out of this situation as fast as she could she began tossing items back into the kits and before she realized what she was doing she slammed her elbow into Masato's ribcage.

The man groaned in pain and Naru froze in place, her hands pressed firmly on the floor. She looked at Masato with surprise, the man had been stabbed and sat stoically throughout being bandaged, but a jab to the ribs broke that façade in an instant.

Naru allowed her eyes to drift up to Masato's face. She was almost afraid to look at him, not wanting to see his face scrunched in pain again. When her eyes finally drifted from his chest to his face, she found him looking at her with the pain she had not wanted to see.

Her heart flipped in a mixture of sadness and longing and she frowned slightly. Her whole visage was overcome with sorrow and she felt a strong desire to make it right. She opened her mouth to apologize but no words would come; feeling like a fool, she closed her mouth and flushed at her idiocy, rubbing the back of her head. Her eyes were still on his face; she watched as he watched her, and when she said nothing he began to open his mouth to speak.

But no words came from Masato either, his lips were only slightly parted when he froze, his hazel eyes widening as he stared at Naru. An expression of understanding played across his features and he gaped even more, but still he could not say anything.

Masato lowered his left arm slowly, until his fingers ghosted Naru's leg; he rested his hand against her thigh, clenching at the hot flesh. Naru's cheeks tinted pink as she realized that, while lowering his arm, Masato had pushed himself off the wall and was leaning in closer. Her mind was buzzing when his fingers traced her jawline before his hands cupped her cheek.

The last image Naru saw before she shut her eyes was of Masato's face, his lips parted and his eyes becoming concealed behind their hoods. They paused, only inches from each other, before Masato closed the gap by capturing her lips with his own.

When Masato finally pulled away, Naru felt as if her heart had exploded in her chest and from the explosion came a fury of fireworks. They stared at each other, Masato was calm while Naru drowned in her emotions, her body desiring Masato's touch but her mind telling her not to press her luck.

Silence filtered between them; there was no sound in the hallway except the dull buzz of an electrical exit sign at the end of the hall.

As the two continued to enjoy the silence, a pair of cold eyes watched them from the opposite end of the hallway, far behind a human's range of sight. Bathed in darkness a dangerous smile played across Zoisite's lips.

* * *

Inside an international airport, Minako and Makoto waited in front of a wall of windows for Luna and Artemis. Meanwhile, after Usagi had convinced the girls to fork over all their change she began raiding vending machines.

While her eyes glanced over the various lights that illuminated the runway, a questioned buzzed around Makoto's mind. "Where did Luna say we were going again?"

"Rhode Island."

"You ever been there?"

"No." Minako answered quickly. "I've only been to New York and Washington."

"Is it really an island?" Usagi asked as she made her way back to the group with a bag of chips between her teeth. "You think it's like a resort?!"

"Usagi, don't you read?" From across the terminal came Rei's voice.

Usagi narrowed her eyes before turning on her heels to face the shrine maiden. "What's she doing here? Don't tell me she's coming!" Usagi barked at Rei who was flanked by Luna and Artemis, coming up behind them were several Protectors including, Jarilo, Losna, and Kalla.

"Rei's just here to see us off." Artemis answered before waving to the girls at the window.

"No way I'd be stuck on a plane with _you_!" Rei snarled and Usagi lunged at the girl, getting into her face before huffing at her.

"Girls, can we not do this tonight?" Luna asked impatiently. "Our planes are waiting." She reminded and tapped her wrist, signaling the girls time was of the essence.

"Fine by me!" Usagi squeaked before shuffling past Rei. "Mako! Minako! Move out Warriors!"

The other girls glanced to each other before following after Usagi.

"Look at her, acting like she's the boss of them!" Rei scoffed once Usagi was out of her sight.

"I like her attitude." Jarilo said and gave Rei a playful shove. "You should be more like her!"

Rei rolled her eyes at the man before he and the other Protectors followed after the girls. "I'd rather give Grandpa a sponge bath..." Through the windows Rei watched them all walk towards two planes that were waiting for them on the runway.

"Usagi, you and the girls will be with Losna and I." Luna shouted to make sure the girls would hear her as they seemed to get wrapped up in the fact they'd be flying in private planes. "Are you listening?!"

"Totally." Minako lied.

"We'll see you in America." Jarilo chuckled before saluting the girls and jogging towards the boys' plane, several yards away. Artemis and Kalla nodded to the girls before following after their energetic teammate.

"Come on girls, let's get on board." Luna said headed up the steps that came down with the door, and onto the plane. An awe-struck Usagi followed her and after that Minako, Makoto, and lastly Losna who shut the door behind her.

The Warriors were in awe by the compact plane that had just enough seats for all of them inside. Luna and Losna eased down into seats near the back and each of the Warriors seemed to freeze after realizing there was already someone in one of the seats.

"Who's she?" Usagi asked abruptly.

"She looks like a stewardess." Makoto interjected.

Sitting in the seat beside Luna was a woman who looked to be around Luna's perceived age, somewhere beyond a teenager and just before full-grown adult.

She had long flowing dark hair, under the lights it seemed to cast off tints of green. She sat cross-legged in the chair wearing a dark blue skirt, and a white dress shirt with a large dark blue bow fixed at the top, over that she wore a dark blue jacket.

The woman smiled to the girls and wiggled the foot of the leg on top, drawing their attention to black heels. Dangling from her ears were oval-shaped ruby earrings with smaller rubies lining it, and resting beside her was a small red purse. Resting on her neck was a small silver key-shaped necklace, inside of which was a small dark red orb.

"Girls, this is another one of the members of the Guard." Luna spoke up. "She works in public relations, but prefers to work alone so she was assigned to international assignments. This is Setsuna Meioh."

* * *

End of Chapter Eighteen**  
**

* * *

Next, the girls touch down in America and begin their investigation. In their determination to succeed one of their team members is captured and innocent lives are taken for the Dark Kingdom's selfish. Find out next time.  
**Chapter Nineteen - Dying Flame**


	19. Dying Flame

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about.

**Note:** I forgot to change the chapter preview on chapter 18 and this chapter's name. It was Goodbye Tokyo, but now is Dying Flame. Hope you enjoy!

**Review Note - avesiji: **Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed all the information, and yeah RISD is a cool place.

-**BelieveInUs**: My first real romantic scene in the story lol, glad you liked it so much. We'll find out their stalkers much later :)

**-DonovanX:** Some chapters are shorter depending on what the plot for it is.

**-StaticLove21:** Thank you!

-**ericaphoenix16**: It's very great!

**-WeirdRaptor: **Thanks, glad you're enjoying it.

* * *

**CHAPTER NINETEEN - Dying Flame**

* * *

**Over North America – Saturday Morning, October 10th **

While Luna, Losna, and Setsuna looked over documents in the back of the jet Makoto enjoyed the last of her lunch and the view out the window. Usagi and Minako browsed through a magazine in the seat they shared after cuddling up to each other once they hit turbulence.

"We'll be landing soon, so now is the perfect time to get you girls up to speed." Luna said, ordering her papers around by importance. "Laurie Matthews, 19, died yesterday morning of exsanguination in her dorm building." Luna read and the girls followed along.

"Uh, what does that mean?" Usagi asked.

"She bled out." Setsuna answered, only glancing up once to the girl.

"Oh."

"Is that what really happened?" Minako asked skeptically.

Losna nodded earnestly. "That's what the police have recorded." she said.

"Yes, officially that is what is on the records." Setsuna added. "There was a witness, the girl's roommate, she claimed Laurie was throwing up a dark liquid that looked almost evil in her description. She says she watched the liquid take the form of a person before she blacked out. The police aren't taking her seriously."

"It seems Laurie was a part of a group of students working on a Sailor V movie." Luna added with a smile to Minako.

"No way!" she squealed. "This is awesome! I mean, it's terrible she died, but wow, a movie?"

"How come they get a movie, but we don't even have one in Japan yet?" Usagi whined.

"You _know_ Sailor V." Makoto reminded. "Why are you complaining?"

Usagi blushed and chuckled. "Oh yeah, sometimes I forget."

"The local police have been checking in on the students close to Laurie, including the film group, and Kalla received reports of strange behavior." Luna said, flipping through her pages. "Several of them went missing from campus yesterday, some were sent to the school's health office after breaking out in a cold sweat. And just last night there a few reports of projectile vomiting and hemorrhaging..."

"Gross..." Makoto said wryly.

"Sounds like something out of a horror movie." Minako added with a disgusted face. "All of this is happening in such a short period of time, I guess it's really too out there to be natural."

"Correct." Setsuna affirmed. "I think whatever targeted Laurie is now affecting the other members of the team."

"We're slightly behind schedule," Luna said checking her watch. "when we land we'll have to get to work right away. Artemis and the boys will survey the surrounding neighborhoods while you girls investigate the school."

"Oooh this is going to be so much fun! We get to hang around real college students!" Usagi squealed.

"We hang around Motoki all the time, and Mamoru." Makoto reminded.

"Motoki's fine, but being around jerk face is nothing to be happy about." Usagi reminded. "WAIT! Luna! We don't speak English!"

"**Speak for yourself**." Minako articulated in nearly perfect English.

"Minako's going to woo all the cute American boys." Makoto said with a frown.

Usagi whined. "No fair! I never pay attention in English class!"

"I can teach you guys the basics, enough to get you through a simple conversation." Minako offered.

"Actually, it may be best if Minako does all the talking," Setsuna interjected and revealed a small black case from her clutch. "You girls can use these." From within the case she pulled two small devices reminiscent of hearing aids.

"What are they?" Makoto asked taking both and tossing one to Usagi.

"Translators, they'll translate any language you hear into Japanese."

"**Hello, nice to meet you.**" Minako said.

"I understood that!" Usagi beamed, cupping her ears. "These are cool! Can we keep them after we're done, I could really use these in school!"

"Ilargi worked hard to make them for you all," Losna said. "I don't know if she'd like you using them however you want."

"Rats..." Usagi frowned, her fantasy of an A+ in English quickly fading.

After landing the two parties gathered in the airport terminal and reviewed their plan of action over the sound of the busy American airline. They then split into their groups again and set off in cabs until they reached the university's property. The nine of them paid off their rides and gathered again on a small stone bridge near the main campus building.

Artemis looked to his watch before squinting in the bright sunlight. "It's almost 11. Stay together and I want hourly updates, okay?"

"We'll be heading into the city with them," Setsuna said as she and Losna headed over to stand beside Kalla. "I want to check the records at the police station. Make sure you check out the school's own records of the events."

The two groups said their goodbyes before splitting again, each setting off on different sides of the bridge.

After nearly an hour of strolling around campus, eavesdropping onto various conversations and watching Minako make small-talk, the girls plopped down beside a large fountain.

"My feet are killing me!" Usagi wailed. "No one told me investigating involved so much walking."

"We've been all over the place, but no one has anything interesting to say." Makoto replied, adjusting her earpiece.

"You didn't hear anything about the Sailor V movie did you?" Luna asked to Minako who only shook her head.

"Well I'm tired of just walking around!" Usagi declared as she hopped up and started stomping away. "Let's go get some food."

"Usagi, watch it!" Luna shouted, but it was too late. The blonde managed to spin around and collide with an incoming student. Luna winced watching them whirl around before tumbling to the ground.

"Oooouuch!" Usagi howled, rubbing her sore bottom.

"Watch where you're going next time!" A boy barked back.

Across from her Usagi watched his hands dart across the ground as he gathered up some spilled items. She opened her mouth for a response but didn't really have one when she got a glimpse at his face. He looked terrifying. Sweat lingered on his pale skin and on the ends of his messy dark hair with bangs that hung down over his eyes unevenly.

"Stop staring at me!" The boy leaned in close, his voice now loud as it shook her from her trance.

"Excuse her, she's a new foreign exchange student." Minako offered, helping Usagi to her feet.

"Yeah, whatever." he sneered, rising to his feet as well. "Just stay out of my way."

"Hey wait, are you working on the Sailor V movie?" Minako asked, catching a glimpse of the sketches of the heroine in his hands.

"Yeah, why do you care?"

"My friends and I are huge Sailor V fans." Minako answered. "We're all from Japan, we've even met her. My name is Minako." she extended a hand out to him that he glanced at uneasily.

"Bradley." he answered before shaking. "And _you _met Sailor V?" he asked incredulously, looking Minako up and down.

She furrowed her brow, casting him a doubtful glance. "Don't sound so surprised."

"Heh, I just find it hard to believe she'd waste her time with some nobodies like you." he sneered.

Makoto clenched her fists. "What a jerk." she muttered watching the boy show Minako one of the drawings.

"Our movie is going to be great, we'll be putting Sailor V on the map!"

Minako smiled. "I'm sure she would appreciate that, but um – would you mind if we tagged along? My friends would like to see the team that's working on the movie."

The boy cast the rest of Minako's group a wary glance before nodded slowly. "I guess it'd be alright. But don't get in anyone's way."

The girls were led across campus, near the edge of the property and into the basement of a double story building. He led them into a small room filled with double sided wooden desks and with numerous Sailor V posters on the wall. Sitting at desks around the walls numerous students were hard at work, some drawing, some writing and others designing posters.

"What's through there?" Minako asked, pointing to a red door near the entrance.

"It's the office of our project leader, W.R., this movie was his idea, and he even managed to get the funding we needed to keep working on it." Bradley answered. "He's also writing the script."

"So much going on in here." Minako mused, looking around at all of the students. No one had looked up to acknowledge them.

"There's a lot to do when it comes to making a movie." Bradley responded in a mocking tone.

"Why do they look so tired?" Minako asked, watching several of the sketch artists yawn. Everyone in the room seemed to be in bad shape; they either appeared exhausted or unkempt.

"W.R. wants this movie to be a great success and he is always in his office working, so we have to follow his example." Bradley answered. "We have to give all of our energy to this."

After a day of hanging around the movie crew the girls regrouped with the rest and booked a few nights in a nearby hotel. Once everyone was checked in they split up and retired to their rooms for a while. While the girls napped, Artemis and Luna lay stretched out across their bed with a box of pizza between them.

"What'd you find out?" asked Artemis before he chomped down on a slice.

Luna lay at the foot of their hotel room bed, looking over a notepad. "Well, it seems all of the students have been working overtime since Laurie's death. The boy that showed us around said they all want to do a good job to make W.R. proud."

"Did you get to talk to him, W.R.?"

"We couldn't get him to come out of his office." Luna bit the inside of her cheek. "I noticed everyone involved with the project seemed to be suffering from some form of exhaustion. Usagi even mentioned feeling a dark energy coming from the boy that showed us around."

"So there is something here worth looking into." Artemis replied with a sigh and dropped his head back to gaze up at the ceiling.

"Did you find anything in the city?" asked Luna before she grabbed a slice for herself.

Artemis shook his head slowly. "No one outside the campus seems to know much about Laurie, her family is from down south. Setsuna and Losna didn't get anything from the police that we didn't already know. This is almost becoming frustrating..."

"Hm?"

"Usually when we stick our noses into something, someone or something else is waiting there, wanting us to keep out. I expected to find a Youma here or something, but other than the strange behavior of the students, there's nothing out of the ordinary."

"Maybe we haven't been sticking our noses in the right places." Luna offered, waving a piece of pizza at him. "I'm taking the girls back to the school later to do some real investigating. There wasn't much we could do with two of them handicapped by not speaking English in broad daylight. But once classes end and the campus quiets down, we'll have full range."

* * *

"Do you mind?" Setsuna asked, casting a glare to Jarilo who stood in front of their hotel window, juggling several of his daggers. After about twenty minutes the clink of the metal clashing against each other was beginning to irk her.

Jarilo met her eyes through the windows reflection and smirked. "Heh, c'mon I'm not really bothering you am I?" he turned, catching each of his weapons.

"I'm trying to get my work done, and Losna is sleeping." With tired eyes Setsuna glanced to the young girl resting at the foot of the bed.

"I'm not waking her." Jarilo reminded with a smile, twirling his weapons around between his fingers. He then began to hop from foot to foot, grinning at her. "C'mon Setsuna, how about some target practice?" He stuck his tongue out and pretended to throw one at her.

"How someone like you managed to get such a rank in the Guard..." she breathed, turning her attention to her work.

Jarilo's playful expression dropped. "That hurt." he frowned and clutched his chest. "Setsuna, we never see you. Don't ruin our reunion!" he wept, crawling across the floor to her.

"You're such a child." she sighed, shaking him off her leg.

"Heh, that's what makes me, me!"

"You should take these jobs more seriously, failure to do so might be your downfall."

"I'm plenty serious!" he corrected, hopping up.

She massaged her temple, he didn't sound believable. "Shouldn't you be getting ready? Aren't you heading back to the school soon?" she asked, looking back down to her work.

Jarilo scrunched up his face and shook his head at her. "I've been ready!" he shouted, throwing her arms out, indicating his boredom. "I wanna go!"

* * *

A few hours later the suited up Warriors and Luna were hopping through a window Jarilo had managed to _open_. Inside they stayed low and shuffled down the flight of stairs and the hall that led them to the film crew's work room.

"They're in there alright..." Jupiter muttered with her head pressed to the door. It was faint but a dull murmur reached her ear. Gingerly she coiled her fingers around the door handle and eased it open a few inches.

"Careful." Luna warned.

Behind the mask Jupiter's eye widened at the students inside. Gathered in a tight circle they sat in the center of the room, arms linked. "Is this normal college stuff?"

Above her Venus peered inside as well. "I don't know, is that?" she directed Jupiter's attention to the ceiling,

Circling above them was a sentient cloud of dark matter. The Warriors watched it coil and wrap around itself like a mass of snakes, with scales like coal.

"The light in the office is on." Poking her head into the doorway Luna pointed off to the door leading to the writer's room.

"I can't see anything!" Moon whined, leaning on Luna to look inside.

"Get off my shoulders!" Luna rasped, feeling herself falling onto Venus. Before long the four of them collapsed in the doorway, causing the door to swing open and slam back against the wall.

"Smooth." Jarilo sniggered, peeking into the room where numerous red eyes glared at him. The students all craned their necks around to find the intruders, their sclera now like vibrant cherries.

Jarilo stepped back and with a flick of the wrist gripped one of his daggers.

"Get ready girls." Luna said, scrambling to her feet, the Warriors behind her as the students began to rise. Their hands like claws, the skin pulled taunt over their bones. Slowly, her eyes drifted to the ceiling where the mass was moving faster.

Jarilo's eyes widened as the mass moved down towards them. Shoving the girls down, the group hit the ground as the dark mass lurched out of the room, crashing against the walls before slithering down the hall.

"Oh no you don't!" Jupiter shouted, throwing herself into the hall before chasing after it. Venus and Moon trailed after her on her heels as Jarilo hosted Luna to her feet.

Narrowing his eyes in the dim room Jarilo progressed towards the students, now laying on the floor. "What's wrong with them?" he asked, stopping beside one of the students.

A young man lay at his feet, twitching uncontrollably, in unison with the rest of the students. Crouching down Jarilo ran a hand across his face, running his fingers across the prominent veins pulsing under his skin.

"They're dying..." Luna muttered, checking on a female student. The girl's pale skin rivaled even Luna's and the cold flesh sent a chill up her spine.

Jarilo threw her a look like he'd just sucked on a lemon. "Dying?"

Luna sighed and extended her hands over the student's body, a dim glow coating her fingers. "These students must have been victims of the same thing happening in Japan."

"Then, that black mass-"

"Was draining their energy." Luna finished. "Without it they grow weak, on the verge of death."

"Can you save them?" Jarilo asked, looking at the group of nearly 20 students scattered on the floor, twitching like fish out of water.

Luna bit down on the inside of her cheek, the healing glow on her hands fading. "Not alone."

"I think I can." he offered, grabbing her arm and standing her up.

"How? You have no magical power." Luna reminded as he ushered her to the door.

"You'll have to trust me! Go help the girls!" Once she was in the hall Jarilo shut the door on her before fishing out a small scroll from his backpack. After he dropped to the floor and unrolling it he prodded his finger before smearing a drop of blood on the scroll.

As he crab walked away the now wriggling scroll released a thick puff of smoke.

* * *

"Did you guys see which way it went?" Venus asked, glancing ahead to Moon and Jupiter, the latter which was peeking around corners.

Jupiter nodded before pointing right. "I saw it go down that hall."

Heading towards it the Warriors kept in formation, Jupiter at the lead, Venus in back and Moon sandwiched between them. The hallway was long and wide with walls covered in flyers advertising school events.

After passing several locked rooms the girls came to a turn in the hallway. They rounded the bend and paused, coming face-to-face with the swirling black mass.

"Whatever you are, there's nowhere left to run!" Jupiter stated. "Or float!"

The girls watched the mass swirl faster and began to melt, dropping chunks onto the carpeted floor. Moon's lance appeared in her already clenched fists as the mass began to rise again, taking a definite shape of two pairs of legs.

The residual of the black mass split to add to the legs that stood before them, creating the bodies of two men. They were dressed in pure black armor that covered almost all of their olive coloured skin, only allowing curls of dark brown hair to escape under their helmets and halo their identical faces.

Behind the girls rapid footsteps could be heard before Luna tore around the corner. "Oh."

"Who are they?" Moon asked, taking a small step back.

"We are the Dioscuri." the men announced.

"Castor and Pollux." Luna restated, her rapier materializing in her hand. "Twins said to represent the constellation Gemini. Be careful, W-"

Luna's warning was cut off as the men charged forward, jousting lances appearing in their hands as they closed the distance between them and the Warriors.

Each of the Warriors readied herself; electricity circuited Jupiter's fists, Venus' disc formed as a shield and Moon began a slow push of energy into her lance.

"Spinta!" Luna shouted and a familiar flash of blue light shot at the men, throwing them back against the far wall. "This hall is too small for a fight with these two..."

"Venus Shot of Love!" A vibrant orange light erupted from her disc, aimed at the men who blocked with a materializing shield. "Then let's head outside."

Luna nodded before running back down the hall with Moon and Jupiter on her heels. Venus followed after, firing another shot to the men to keep them from chasing too close behind.

"You can't escape!" They echoed, bearing around the corner after them.

The girls quickly reached a set of stairs and bounded up them, pushing their way outside. Regrouping, the girls stood between two large buildings, to their left the rest of the campus and off to the right a small turnaround followed by a parking lot. Waiting in formation they watched the men leap onto the upper level before busting through the glass doors.

"Go Pollux, take east." Castor demanded and the man obeyed. Pollux leaned forward before he tore off from his spot, making an arc around the girls.

Moon shuffled close to Jupiter as Pollux's shining eyes were cast down on her. Pulling back on his lance a rapid stream of water encased the weapon as he aimed for Moon.

Moon parried the blow, forcing the last bit of energy into her own lance before she swung at the man. Pollux jolted back out of range before threatening to jab at Moon again.

Throwing out a fist Jupiter sent a stream of lightning at Pollux, causing the man to stagger further back. "Savage Thunder!" she boomed, a crack of thunder echoing in the sky before she slammed down near the man. Thick bolts of lightning then struck down in rapid succession, each coming in closer to him.

Pollux zipped across the grounds, dodging the bolts coming for him and quickly broke into stride, heading back beside Castor.

"Together brother?" Pollux asked with a glance to his brother.

"Together." Castor agreed, holding his lance in front of him as well. From the base of the weapon a ring of fire emerged before a cone of it was fired from the lance at the girls.

Pollux threw his lance out and rotated his wrist in circles, a winding spiral of water focusing around the fire. The two forces collided into the stone covered ground and managed to create a large hole in the campus grounds.

Dust and chunks of stone swept across the grounds. Leaping back from the explosion the girls shielded their eyes, not wanting to be caught off guard.

Through the dust Moon watched one of the men's figure emerge, before she could react Castor's hand clamped down on her shoulder, squeezing tightly. She yelped under the pressure and in her peripherals could see the other fast approaching.

Before Pollux could reach her, Jupiter's lightning charged hand chopped down onto the back of Castor's neck, sending a numbing wave of pain down his spine.

The moment of weakness was all Moon needed. Slamming her arm against his, the hold was broken and she managed to get in a quick slash of her lance before he leapt away.

"Tempesta!" Luna called and the dying cloud of dust was blown away by a quick gust of wind.

To her left Moon caught Pollux charging in, lance at the ready. She quickly sidestepped and made another slash, only to be parried.

Thrusting his leg out Pollux slammed it into Moon's gut, throwing the girl off her balance and sending her staggering back.

"Moon!" Luna shouted, alerting her to Castor charging in from her blind spot, lance ready to stab.

"Not on my watch!" Jupiter shouted, charging in from the side, arm charged with lightning. The two collided, the Warrior's metal and electric covered hand ripping through the flesh on the man's chest. Castor grunted, blood spewing from his chest before gripping Jupiter around her throat.

"Venus' Shot of Love!" Venus shouted, a flash of orange flooding Castor's vision before a searing pain spread through his side. After the passing beam clipped the side of the building, the explosion echoed through the campus, spraying the area with stone dust again.

Luna's raised rapier summoned another gust of wind, clearing visibility for the battle as the two sides regrouped.

"Looks like teaming up is the best way to do this." Venus muttered, affixing her disc halves to her wrists.

Supporting his brother, Pollux stood tall, clenching his lance tight. "Castor, we need more power."

Castor nodded, lifting his own lance before touching tips with his brother. The contact created a flash of light through which came two whirling streams of colours, one red and one blue.

"Moon Blade Slash!" Moon rasped, slamming her lance down and sending a whirling wave of energy towards the duo.

The two streams effortlessly avoided the attack before crashing down onto the ground and reforming into the two men, albeit in different forms.

The brothers had been stripped of their armor, exposing most of their bodies that now were a combination of a horse and a man. Castor's skin was tainted a dull red colour and his brother blue. Fixed around their waists were silver circlets and chain mail skirts, across their torsos black chest plates. Flicking behind them were thick white tails, much like a horse.

"Yick..." Moon griped at their elongated and thick thighs and long faces.

As their tails flicked about they laced with one another, a dim glow surrounding their forms. "We'll show you true power!" the men called, their voices overlapping each other as they spoke.

As the Warriors prepared for an attack the near sound of police sirens shook their focus.

"Just what we need." Luna muttered as she spotted the first sign of flashing lights pulling into the lot.

Castor and Pollux grunted before opening her mouths wide, a small point emerging from the backs of their throats. From the tips formed small orbs, one blue and one red, before they were fired into the lot.

From a distance Luna could see officers flee their cars before the orbs reached them, exploding several squad cars on impact. Rising from the lot was a vortex of fire, surrounding with a thin spiral of water.

"GET THEM!" One of the officers yelled. Following the command a team of officers stormed into the quad before opening fire on the duo.

The two men only smirked down at them before jumping onto the roof. Castor reached the top first and prepared another fire attack, several of the cops shuffled closer to the building, but their efforts to stop him were in vain as a wave of water washed them away.

Jutting his neck forward Castor sent numerous fireballs down onto the ground. He then leapt on a tall stone wall off to the right before firing out more balls.

The remaining cops on the ground scattered, firing more shots up. Castor turned to them, waiting for the chance to strike when a green streak caught his eye below.

"RAH!" Jupiter bellowed before she delivered a charged punched into the base of the stone wall. Yanking her fist free the wall the crack she made spread until it no longer was able to stand on its own. The wall broke apart, falling in numerous pieces, and Castor on top of it fell along with it. The nearby officers scattering further away to avoid falling stone chunks.

Castor opened his eyes wide and glared at the green suited Warrior, bounding away. Fire erupted at his feet and began to circle his body, clinging to his skin, transforming his features drastically into a creature consumed of flame.

Leaping onto the roof Castor reared his head back and an army of fireballs formed in the back of his throat. Jutting his neck out again the fireballs seared their way through the air and through the officer's protective armor.

The lucky ones were incinerated instantly, while the rest were pelted by the attacks, burning portions of their bodies and sending the ignited men and women screaming through the campus.

After seeing Pollux reappear on the roof Jupiter clenched her fists and glanced to her burning cops dropping like flies, the while remaining officers nearby struggled to put out the fires. She sent a heavy collection of energy to her fist. As the fires consuming Castor died down she took a few quick steps towards the building, leaping off the ground towards the unsuspecting man.

She slammed her powerful fist against the side of the half transformed man's cheek, sending ripples across his face. His devilish eyes darted to the side, watching Jupiter as the longer her fist remained connected to him the more force she applied behind her punch. After the initial pain spread through his body, a jolt of electricity ravaged its way through him as well, paralyzing him instantly.

Venus sprinted along side of the building; her glowing disc clenched tight in her hand. "Raining Shot of Love!" she shouted before hurling her weapon up. Jupiter pushed off against Castor and dropped back to the ground. In the sky above, Venus' swirling disc exploded with whistling streaks of orange energy.

Pollux caught a glimpse of Venus before she disappeared out of sight. He hopped off the roof before the attack could reach him and raced down the pathway in front of the building. His lower body morphed into an aquatic form that carried him to the suited Warrior instantly. Lunging at her, his hand wrapped around her throat as they hit the ground.

"Where do you think you're going?" He applied more pressure behind his hand, unaware the force was making it hard for her to answer his him.

She struggled to pull his hand off of her throat, but settled on something else. Placing her hands on the side of his head she jammed her thumbs into his eyes; the unexpected pain caused Pollux to howl out and rub his burning eyes.

Venus rolled over and hopped to her feet, her disc reforming in her hand. Tearing it apart she revealed the razor chains between the halves, grinning down at Pollux.

Leaping through the rubble of the collapsed wall Jupiter and Moon scanned the debris for Castor. Back in the quad, Luna managed to gather the officers who hadn't been burned into crisps and had begun applying rudimentary medical attention.

On the other side of vertical chunk of stone Jupiter spotted the fallen man. Hopping over the chunk she approached him and controlled all of her energy down into her fist. "Found him."

Moon scurried towards her, bunny hopping the stone and pausing beside Jupiter. "Venus did a number on him..." she muttered, looking over burned spots on his horse-man body.

Jupiter nodded, her fist now beginning to overflow with power. The electricity now swirling around her fist, ready for another fight.

Castor's eyes opened wide, alarmed at the Warriors standing above him. His jaw dropped, a blast of fire erupting from the back of his throat instantly. The Warriors leapt back over the stone wall, ducking down to avoid the searing heat.

As the fire died down Jupiter and Moon scooted out on the sides of the stone, flanking Castor. The man was up and fired at them again, instinctively Jupiter began to flip backwards. Barely avoiding the blast of fire Moon crouched down to the ground.

Once the fire had died again Jupiter lunged forward to the man and slammed her powerful fist into his gut. A booming painful roar erupted from the mouth of the man as his armor began to split and crack.

* * *

"They're stable." Nikkal said, rising from her crouched position. After Jarilo lined up the weakened students she was able to quickly apply much needed medical aid. "You'll have to keep a constant supply of energy into the field or they'll lose their energy again." Surrounding the students was a ethereal blue dome conjured by a series of kanji Nikkal had etched into the floor.

Jarilo nodded from the door of the meeting room. "Thanks for helping the-"

Nikkal's hand slapping against his cheek cut the man off, a puzzled look crossing his face.

"Uh...?"

Nikkal quickly snatched up the scroll on the ground he used to summon her. "Do you know how much trouble I could get in for being here?" she scolded, waving the scroll in his face. "A Protector without global clearance working internationally is grounds for demotion."

Jarilo gave a weak smile before taking it off her hands. "Relax, I needed you. I couldn't have saved them on my own."

"You should have let them die..." Nikkal responded.

Jarilo stiffed a laugh before observing her face, realizing she meant it. "You're not serious are you?" he asked hopefully.

Nikkal nodded with alert eyes. "Humans... I can't stand being around them."

"Wow, I really though you liked them, weren't you in love with a human man for a number of years?"

"The only humans I like are the ones laying dead on my operating table." she replied sharply.

"Nik." he started before she held up a hand, cutting him off.

"I'm leaving. Don't breathe a word of this to anyone." she warned before exiting the room.

With a deep breath Jarilo made his back back to the center of the room and crouched down beside one of the students. All of them seemed to be doing better than when they first collapsed, colour had returned to their skin and the veins had died back down, their twitching had stopped as well.

"Hey. You able to talk yet?" Jarilo asked, prodding the student in the leg. With wary eyes a male turned to Jarilo and nodded. "Can you tell me anything important that happened surrounding the death of your friend, Laurie?"

"E – Everyone was really stressed out about the movie... We, had run out of money and were going to have to sh-shut it down..." he coughed, startling Jarilo. "Then W.R., he – he came into some money... just enough to finish funding."

"He say how?" Jarilo asked, easing down into a sitting position.

The student shook his head slowly. "Just some man, handed him a check."

"You ever meet him?"

"Once, he stopped by to see how we were doing."

"Remember anything about him? Like his name, what he looked like?"

The student clenched his eyes shut, Jarilo could almost seem the gears in his mind working to churn out a mental image.

"Masato Sanjouin, I – I think that was his name."

Jarilo scrunched up his face and nodded. "You remember anything else?"

While the student gave the best explanation of the man's appearance from memory, a pair of shining eyes watched them from the doorway.

* * *

Near the entrance to the building Nikkal climbed over chunks of stone that lay in her way. Outside she took in the scene of several police officers being swept away by a wave, some having balls of fire pelted down on them.

Moving away from a slab of fallen stone she glanced to the sky, her eyes locking onto two figures floating above.

"Nikkal!" Luna shouted, gaining the woman's attention.

Nikkal flinched as jogging footsteps came closer.

"What are you doing here?"

"Jarilo summoned me." she admitted.

"You shouldn't be here." Luna reminded, she was sure the woman knew that already though.

With a roll of her eyes Nikkal scanned the quad. "I didn't have much of a choice in the matter, but it looks like you could use my help anyway."

Moon and Venus came into view, skidding across the ground after being pushed by another wave of water.

Clasping her hands together a scroll appeared between Nikkal's hands. Tearing it apart she unraveled it and spread it across the ground.

"Can you seal them?" Luna asked curiously, watching her sit in front of the scroll and smear a drop of her blood on it. Nikkal only nodded before two larger scrolls emerged from the initial one, in a puff of smoke.

"Can you bring them into my range?" Nikkal requested, rising into a crouched position as she began to unravel the larger scrolls.

Luna nodded before charging out into the quad.

After struggling to gather energy in her tired state, Jupiter settled for hurling chunks of debris at the men to bring them down from the sky.

"Again brother?" Castor asked, his tail flicking towards his brother before they laced together again. From their tails came their respective elements, swirling around their bodies before being unleashed on the Warriors. A strong wave of water crashed down, washing over the Warriors, sending Venus and Moon further back across the quad.

"I'm sick of this guy!" Venus snapped.

Choking on water Moon nodded, the constant barrage of waves had left her shivering cold.

Lashing her rapier out into the air a thin yellow rope extended from the blade tip and wrapped around Pollux, yanking him out of the air. Tugging on her sword Luna slammed Pollux into the ground and began to recall the rope, dragging the man in closer.

"Get ready Nik." Luna said, keeping an eye on Castor.

Castor struggled to form words to respond, watching his brother be taken away. Instead he dropped his arm down to his side as he gathered energy to form his lance. As the Warriors helped one another to their feet they regrouped behind luna.

All eyes were fixated on the man above them; meanwhile Nikkal fixed her hands into a seal. The loose flap of one of the scrolls came to life, shooting out from her and wrapping around Pollux's body.

Enraged, Pollux began thrash about as the material of the scroll encased his legs. Above, Castor took the chance to charge Luna, his lance bursting into flame as he rushed towards her. Moon darted out ahead of her, her lance glowing bright before he swung up at the man. The two attacks collided, countering each other and creating an explosion.

Focusing on the task at hand Nikkal finished wrapped up Pollux, the man's thrashing had ceased as the material finishing wrapping around him several times.

Through the cloud of smoke Castor emerged, charing towards Moon who parried his jab with her lance.

"Savage Thunder!" Jupiter emerged from above, her fist covered in electricity as she came charged for the man.

Castor sidestepped allowing for Jupiter to slam her charged fist down into the ground. Castor took the moment to jab his foot into the girl's ribcage, followed by a quick uppercut to her chin.

Jupiter tumbled away and rolled off into the bushes, Venus and Moon soon came into Castor's field of vision, each preparing another attack.

The red Youma prepared himself for the attacks, but when the Warriors began to criss-cross, throwing off his concentrating, Castor changed his plan.

As the girls flanked him, he leapt off the ground and spun up into the air, leaving the girls to close in on his previous spot. His feet met a fallen slab of stone as he quickly prepared for another attack.

"BURN!" Castor took a quick second to gather the remainder of his energy up before he sent a searing fireball crashing down onto the ground.

"Tempesta!" Luna shouted, a gust of wind threw the ball off course and sent it crashing into a the building across the quad.

"Castor!" Jupiter's voice rang out and clear, too close for Castor to react effectively. The Warrior's fist pounded into the side of Castor's jaw, the force following the punch sent the man spiraling through the air.

Castor spun out of control as he plummeted to the ground, unable to find and focus on anything. Moon appeared off to the right, her charged lance at her side as she darted in closer. Castor readied himself, spinning around he slammed his foot into the girl's gut.

Moon grunted before Castor whipped around, onto his feet, before slamming his elbow down onto the back of her neck.

After scaling the stone slab Venus lunged off and threw herself through the air to Castor. The Youma glanced around for his lance, unable to spot it in the rubble and opted for a physical attack. Leaping from the ground he met Venus in mid-air, flipped over before slamming his foot up into her throat.

Castor breathed in heavily, his low stamina was taking a toll on his body with even basic attacks. "I need Pollux..." He glanced around through the rubble to find the fallen Warriors in case he needed to prepare himself for another attack.

As soon as he began to relax Castor was alerted by the rusting of paper above him. He snapped his head up scanning sky for another opponent, only to find a swirl of paper above him.

"Shit." he muttered, fire igniting in his hands.

Nikkal sprang out from hiding first, followed by Luna. The former commanded the paper, which instantly surrounded Castor and began to tighten around him. Luna set down the already sealed Pollux and leapt through the rubble to her Warriors.

"I'm fine Luna." Venus muttered, rubbing her throat. Beside her Jupiter raised a thumbs-up.

"Moon?" Luna asked, scanning the area for the last of them.

"I'm, okay!" Moon sputtered, tripping over a rock as she tried to rejoin the group.

From within her trap of paper, Castor looked like a frantic child to Nikkal. The woman continued to ensnare him until he was hidden from view by the scroll's material. Running a hand down the paper she sliced it in half and finished sealing him.

"All done Luna." Nikkal shouted, setting the sealed brothers beside each other.

"Good." Luna replied with a sigh. "We made quiet the mess..."

"Don't blame us, it's their fault!" Moon shouted, pointing to the wrapped bodies.

"Let's regroup and get out of here." Jupiter offered with a groan, massaging her arms.

After making their way back into the building and down to the basement the girls followed one another to the meeting room. Luna entered first and froze at what she saw. Aside from the desks and tables, it was completely empty.

"Where are they?" Luna shouted, rushing to the center of the room. Half expecting to find them if she saw the room from a different angle.

"He didn't mention leaving." Nikkal said, looking about the room as well.

Inside the meeting room Moon's eyes fell on the small office door, the light inside still on. Nibbling the inside of her cheek she inched towards it and turned the knob. Before she had the door open even a few inches a pungent odor smacked her across the face, causing her to recoil from the door.

"Ewwww..."

"What is it?" Jupiter asked, peering towards the door, the smell slithering through her mask as well. "Oh gross."

Venus raised a curious eyebrow before she kicked the door in, nearly vomiting at what lay inside. Hunched over his desk was the script writer W.R., or what remained. His body was emaciated, his skin blotchy red where blood vessels had popped. The interior of the room was covered in a dark red goo that, from the appearance of the room and the body, had exploded after coming out the boy's mouth.

* * *

Easing back into her wonted throne Beryl smiled deviously after watching the battle between the Warriors and Castor and Pollux. Across her chamber hall Zoisite appeared.

"What brings you here?" she asked.

"Nephrite's incompetence, for starters." Zoisite snapped.

"Oh?"

"He's been so careless as of late. The students he tricked, he allowed them to remember his identity as Masato. He's reckless." Zoisite waved a hand in front of himself and from a trans-dimesional space the bodies of the weak and frail students appeared, each of them falling to the cold floor.

"Why did you bring them here?"

"Sacrifices, to Metalia." he replied with a grin.

"These weak humans, even all together they will barely provide the energy one healthy human would." Beryl said, raising her hand up and the students began to lift off the ground, floating slowly towards the ceiling.

"I also brought you something else I thought you might enjoy." Zoisite grinned before another body appeared in the chamber.

Jarilo hit the ground on his knees, arms restrained behind his back with a makeshift cuff made of wires that dug into his skin. His battered body was oozing blood and the early signs of burns and bruises were beginning to form.

"Bow before the Queen!" Zoisite bayed before he slammed his foot into the man's back, forcing him onto the ground, his chin smacking against the stone.

Beryl shifted pleasantly in her throne, unable to contain her happiness.

"What shall I do with him?"

"Gather as much information from him as you can." Beryl smiled, her eyes shining like diamonds at Zoisite's capture.

* * *

End of Chapter Nineteen**  
**

* * *

Next, love is in the air when both Ami and Shingo confess their feelings for someone. With the park murderer gone and Tuxedo Mask's name cleared the thief's popularity drastically increases, and once Naru finds herself in harm's way again who will save her? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Twenty - Eat Die Love**


	20. Eat, Die, Love

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about.

**Note:** Sorry for the week late update, I lost my flash drive with this chapter on it lol.

**Review Note - James Birdsong: **Thank you James!

-**ericaphoenix16**: Always my pleasure, sorry for the delay though.

**-avesiji: **Thanks I was torn between my monsters! Castor and Pollux are Youma in the anime, but are really beings of mythology (Experiments). I could have made them hybrids, but decided to stick with Youma. I had some trouble with that fight, but I'm glad you liked it. And yes, I wonder too...

**-StaticLove21: **Who knows :) I have a lot of fun writing things for Zoisite. He's very ruthless and inappropriate, to me at least.

-**WeirdRaptor:** No problem, I enjoyed killing you off.

* * *

**CHAPTER TWENTY- Eat Die Love**

* * *

**Japan – Monday, October 12th**

Sunday evening, after a day of scanning the city for any leftover traces of dark energy, and Jarilo, the Warriors and the Guard headed for home.

The plane rides were silent, the Warriors each wallowing in their own form of guilt for letting even one student die. Luna and Nikkal both in a guilt trip of their own for leaving Jarilo behind.

Once they touched down back in Tokyo the captured Youma bodies were delivered to Losna's lab where she and Nikkal began work on them immediately. All other Divisions of the Guard were busy investigating Jarilo's disappearance.

"Do you girls need anything else?" Ikuko asked to her daughter and Luna, both lounging on the former's bed. Across Usagi's table was a variety of snack foods and drinks, all prepared for her study session with Ami and Makoto.

Luna looked over the table. "She's got enough food to feed a small village." she mocked to which Usagi sneered back at her.

"No thanks mom, we're good."

Ikuko nodded before bowing her head, leaving the girls to their chatter.

"You sure you don't want to stay?" asked Usagi once her door was shut completely. "It'll be funnnn." she sang.

Luna pursed her lips and shook her head. "I want to get back to headquarters and do my part to find Jarilo. It's my fau-"

"DON'T say it's your fault, again." Usagi shouted. "He wanted to stay behind right?"

Luna nodded. "That doesn't make it okay though. And there's the matter of Nikkal being there." Luna groaned before scratching her head. "Too much going on right now..."

"One thing at a time. We managed to rid that campus of that evil, that's good right?" Usagi offered. "Jarilo's tough, he can take care of himself."

"Since when did you become the voice of reason?" asked Luna, casting the girl a sideways glance.

"Well, you know..." Usagi boasted, rubbing her nails across her shirt.

"I should get going, I told Artemis I would meet him at 6." Luna said crawling off the bed before she checked her watch. "Study hard." she reminded before disappearing out the window. "The girls are here anyway."

Usagi smiled as she slid off her bed, gazing over the treats her mom had bought her.

"Usagi, your friends are here." Ikuko announced, swinging open the door, revealing Ami and Makoto standing in front of her.

After a minute of breaking into the snacks the girls got to work. While Makoto and Usagi caught up on some unfinished homework Haruna agreed to let them turn in late, Ami lectured the girls on the importance of turning things in on time.

"Usagi, are you even listening?" Ami asked.

"Huh?" Usagi jolted out of her daydream. "Uh yeah, I totally heard every word that you just said..."

"Really? Then what is the answer to number 25?" Makoto asked in a teasing tone.

Usagi stiffed a nervous giggle. "Um, it is... A chemical reaction?"

"I didn't know long division answers had anything to do with science." Makoto replied.

Ami sighed before she grabbed Usagi's math book and dropped it on top of the chemistry book. "We finished our science work five minutes ago." she reminded.

"I knew that." Usagi stated quickly. "Just testing you guys."

"Speaking of tests," Ami started and Usagi groaned almost instantly. "are you ready for the one on Wednesday?

"You already know the answer, Ami." Usagi mumbled, flipping through her book.

"I thought you were going to spend the weekend studying?"

"Obviously she didn't, why do you think she threw together this study party?" Makoto asked.

"Ryo and I have been studying a lot, I'm very confident I'll do well." Ami admitted.

"Who's Ryo?"

"Usagi, do problem 26 will you?" Ami redirected.

Usagi's jaw dropped before turning into a sly grin. "Sure, after you tell me who Ryo is."

"He's just a boy..." Ami admitted bashfully.

"Girls don't get those kinds of looks on their faces from _just boys_." Makoto added, pointing to Ami who seemed to be shrinking down to hide away from further questions.

"He goes to our school and we spend time together sometimes after school." Ami clasped her face. "He said he admired me because of my grades and all the work I put in to get them."

"Aww, Ami don't be embarrassed." Makoto said, nudging her. "That's really cool!"

"I just – I've never liked a boy before, I don't really know what to do."

"Have you told him you like him?" Makoto asked.

Ami only shook her head in response.

"Well you gotta tell him! Straight to his face, with confidence!"

"No no no!" Usagi preached. "You have to be coy about it! Guys don't like aggressive women! No offense Mako. But you should leave him letters in his locker, and drop plenty of hints."

Makoto sighed and turned to Ami. "What does she know? She's never even had a boyfriend. Take it from me."

"That's mean!" Usagi whined.

Ami slumped over to the side, her eyes focused on her textbook. "I think I'll talk to him after school tomorrow."

"Yes!" Makoto cheered.

"But I'm not telling him!" Ami finished. "It'd be too embarrassing."

"Heheheheh." Usagi snickered. "Just play it cool, boys love it!"

"Alright Usagi, since you're the love doctor, how's it going with Tuxedo Mask?" Makoto asked.

Usagi looked away uncomfortably. "Well, that's complicated..."

"Do you really like him Usagi?" Ami asked.

"Yeah…"

"Does he even know who you are?" Ami said as nicely as she could.

"I sure hope so..." she replied honestly.

"What about you Mako? Any boys you like?" Ami asked.

Makoto hunched over the table, mulling it over. "Well there's Motoki, but he's – distant."

Usagi sneered before leaning an elbow on the table. "Have you told him how you feel?" she mocked.

"Yes." Makoto answered sternly. "But he just kind of, brushed it off, like he didn't hear me."

"Maybe he's just not that interested?" Ami offered, her tone still polite, though her words suggested otherwise.

"They've been on a couple of dates, if he didn't like her why would be go out with her like that?" Usagi asked, not seeing a reason for him not to like Makoto.

Ami merely shrugged before going back to her homework. The others followed her lead and after an hour managed to bang out a couple of assignments and get in another solid hour of test review.

As the clocks ticked past 9 Ami and Makoto began to pack up their things and leave. After saying her goodbyes Usagi cleaned up her room and began to stow away the snacks for the future. Shingo had been planted at the dining room table on each of her trips to the kitchen and on her last she finally decided to figure out why.

"Did you superglue your butt to the chair?" she asked.

"Leave me alone." he replied glumly.

"Oh! Attitude alert!" she snapped in reply. "Fine, if you don't wanna tell me, then I don't care!" As she stomped out of the kitchen she heard Shingo's voice cry out.

"Usagi..."

Blonde locks reappeared in the doorway, the girl had found a renewed interest in the situation. "You called?"

"What do you know about love?"

Usagi looked back at him like she'd just stubbed her toe. "Love?"

Shingo nodded. "There's a girl in my class..."

"Shingo likes a girl." she sang. "Who is she? What's her name? I need details!"

Shrugging out of the chair Shingo shuffled off towards the door. "Forget it, I knew telling _you_ was a bad idea."

"Oh c'mon! I'm just kidding, I really want to know!" Usagi pleaded, latching onto her brother's arm as she spun him back around.

"Her name's Mika..." he admitted, his eyes focused on the floor.

"Does this Mika have a family name?" Usagi pried.

"Kayama."

"So, what is she like?" Usagi asked, easing down into a chair, genuine interest laced in her voice.

"She's a really sweet and nice." Shingo said, heading back to his seat before he placed his book bag on the table. "She made this for a contest." Digging around in his bag he pulled out a small doll, carelessly wrapped in paper.

"How pretty." Usagi bubbled, daring to touch the doll.

"Yeah," Shingo agreed, setting it down. "it won first place in the contest."

"How come you have it? You didn't steal it from her did you Shingo?!"

"I'm not a thief dummy!" Shingo barked, snatching the doll off the table. "She gave it to me!"

"Oh." she giggled. "So, have you told Mika you like her yet?"

"No..." Shingo blushed. "All my friends make fun of me for hanging around her. They laughed at me the way home after she gave me the doll too."

"Those little creeps!" Usagi snapped, shooting up. "I'll tell you what! If they aren't being very good friends then you don't need them around! It's not right to feel ashamed for liking someone. Tomorrow, after you tell your friends off, tell Mika how you feel!"

"Coming from you doughnut breath, who told Ami to leave love notes in a boy's locker." Shingo said skeptically.

"Were you eavesdropping on us you brat?"

"Heheh, maybe." Shingo snickered before zipping out of the dining room.

* * *

**9:05 pm**

Most of the Silver Guard's members had retired to their rooms for the night, but Luna, Artemis, Losna, and a doctor Belias Mel were still at work in Losna's lab.

The group had been chatting about the circumstances of the deaths for little over an hour, they then split, leaving Dr. Mel to his work of performing of a psychic reading of the bodies. Behind glass walls the three Protectors watched the doctor conjure a purple veil over the most recent bodies of Laurie Mathews and W.R. Droma.

The doctor stood between the two bodies, his hands moving in a meticulous pattern over them, the veil shifting with each of his movements.

After Artemis had gone through a couple cups of coffee the doctor waved them inside.

Dr. Mel smiled to each of them as they filed back into the room. "All done." he said, his blue gum visible once he started his cow-like chewing motion.

Losna surveyed the bodies, the purple veil over them was slowly fading. "What did you come up with?" she asked.

"Well," he started, glancing back to the bodies. "you were right, about them being controlled by something, I would go as far as to say it was a curse. See here." Dr. Mel took hold of W.R.'s wrist and spread his fingers apart. "You see?"

"A hand?" Artemis said dryly as he raised a white brow, unimpressed with this doctor that Mani highly recommended.

"Heh, sorry." Dr. Mel dropped the hand and slid his bifocals off, handing them to Artemis. "My glasses, charmed to magnify things to the will of the user, look over his fingerprints."

Warily Artemis took the glasses and slipped them on. He was instantly was greeted with the unpleasant sight of the doctor's face in magnification 100x. He then bent over, staring down into the boy's hand, paying close attention to his fingers where he found a series of minute dots and lines.

"What are they?" he asked before offering the glasses to Losna.

"From my experience, a constellation." Dr. Mel replied with an immediate nod, to counter the expected reluctance from Artemis. "I was informed the Youma you came across were the Dioscuri, twins brothers that were transformed into the constellation Gemini." he added with a look to Luna.

The woman struggled to tune into the conversation around her. There was only one thing on her mind, Jarilo. Even after Ilargi promised she would do everything in her power to find him she couldn't bring herself to think about anything else.

_"I'll bet my bra I find him before the week is up."_ The woman had told her this morning over coffee. As much as she wanted to believe her, a numbing feeling in the pit of her stomach told her finding him wouldn't be that simple.

"Luna, what do you think?" Artemis' voice shook her out of her head.

"Huh?"

"About the markings." Losna added, holding the glasses up to her which she refused.

Luna furrowed her brow, forcing herself to move on mentally. "The markings are connected to the Youma that were affecting the humans, from Rhode Island and here in Japan."

"Correct." Dr. Mel affirmed, putting his glasses on. "I also was able to figure out that the victims were experiencing abnormal rates of energy output. Once it seems their energy could go no higher, it seemed to break free of the body. If we had observed it we might even have been able to see their life energy seeping from their body." the doctor moved his arms to illustrate his point of something leaking from the body. "After that, it was gone, almost instantly."

"And what about their bodies?" Luna asked. "The others we have had to be strapped down because they still had some of the Youma inside them, are these two..."

"Oh! No, Mr. Droma's body is completely empty, I mean that. His organs are missing as well, I'm guessing it was mixed in with the gunk you found him surrounded by. And Ms. Mathews was never being controlled, at least not directly."

"How is that possible?" asked Artemis. "The witness report of Laurie claimed she was vomiting some dark matter before she died, how do you explain that?"

"It's just a guess, but I believe Mr. Droma was the only one affected. Whatever was controlling Mr. Droma latched onto the other students and manipulated them. I suppose after being implanted in one of them, entering the bodies of those nearby was a simple task. At the time Ms. Mathews energy peaked, it forced it out of her. That dark matter was the energy form of the Youma you encountered." Dr. Mel explained.

"Thanks for coming out here Dr. Mel." Losna said, extending her small hand.

The doctor regarded her with a smile and a shake. "Glad to help, give my regards to Mani if you see him. I should be going, my plane leaves in half an hour."

After saying their goodbyes and cleaning up the lab, stowing the bodies away, the Protectors lingered around the office for bit longer, mulling over what was ahead of them.

Artemis sighed behind his hands that rubbed his tired eyes. "It's great we know _what's_ happening, but we're still in the dark about _who_ is making it happen."

Losna nodded as she nibbled on her thumbnail. "It sucks none of the students are around, I'm sure at least one of them saw something."

Luna winced at a pang of guilt in her chest.

Even though it was a minute action, Losna still noticed. "Oh, no, Luna I didn't mean it like that..."

Luna stood and waved a hand at Losna, disregarding the comment. "No, it's fine. I know I messed up." Uneasily she crossed the room to the hall. "I'm gonna head up and see if anyone is in Ilargi's lab, goodnight."

As Luna's footsteps became fainter Artemis and Losna shared a worried look.

* * *

**10:23 pm**

The front door of the Aino house was pushed open by gentle force behind it, their hand gripped around the knob. After sliding inside they closed the door, mindful not to wake the residents. Their efforts were pointless though as they were soon bathed in light from a lamp affixed to the ceiling.

"Where have you been?!"

Minako flinched under the bright light and her mother's demanding tone. "Moooooom..." she sighed.

"Don't mom me! Do you have any idea what time it is?" her mother tapped her wrist frantically. "Honestly Mina, you came home from school, dumped off your stuff and left out of here without two words. You dinner is probably frozen by now..."

Minako rolled her eyes, downcast so her mother couldn't possibly see and shrugged off to the staircase.

"Homework hasn't been touched..." her mother continued. "Chores are piling up..."

"Okay mom, going to bed now!" Minako replied, wanting to drop the subject.

"You'd better shape up young lady, or else you'll end up like your father, working an average job, miserable everyday. Is that what you want?"

Minako puffed out her chest. "No." she answered rather loudly.

"I didn't think so! Now, off to bed." Her mom replied and waved her off.

Once out of earshot Minako emitted a small squeal of frustration, but her temper died down once she entered her room. From within her jean jacket she revealed a case, wrapped up in a plastic bag.

"Late night?" asked Artemis. The feline lay stretched out across one of Minako's stuffed animals.

"Wasn't supposed to be." replied Minako, ripping the case from the bag and looking it over. "How was your day?"

"Busy." he replied and left it at that. By her tone he could tell Minako wasn't in the mood for a conversation revolving around the darker side of her life.

The blonde was quick to reply. "Better than being bored all day." Walking to her television set she popped open the case, grabbing the VCR tape from inside before sliding it into the machine.

"Whatcha watching?" Artemis inquired curiously.

Minako kept quiet, instead scooped up the cat and crawled into bed. There they watched the tape begin with ads for other movies before she fast-forwarded through to get to the movie's title screen.

"Ace Kaitou stars in... Ace Kaitou vs deVienne?" Artemis muttered as the words appeared on screen.

Minako held the cat tightly and squealed. "It's my favorite!"

It was an action film in which the villain, a voluptuous woman named deVienne had taken advantage of teenage girls' obsession with chocolate. The woman handed out chocolate by the boxes for free to the girls that had effects like draining their energy and making them gain unreal amounts of weight in short timespans. To the girls packing on the pounds deVienne offered a weight loss treatment that would instead drain them of all their energy.

Artemis found it difficult to even stand thirty minutes of the flick because of the cheesy puns and dialogue once the hero finally showed up; a white tuxedo clad man named Ace Kaitou. To Artemis' dismay the action film, lacked good action. After a short bout with deVienne the two began throwing different kinds of chocolate at each other that had a variety of effects on the civilians nearby.

Unable to stand the movie any longer, Artemis curled into a ball and decided to turn in for the night.

Watch the cat shift his attention from the movie, Minako couldn't help but call him out on it. "Oh, no way! You're not loving this?!"

"The question is, how are you loving this?" Artemis retorted as he wrapped his tail around his body.

"Because, Ace is seven kinds of fine." Minako quipped, moving her hands like claws as the camera showed a close-up on Ace's backside.

"Oh brother..." The ivory cat groaned. "Have you met him?"

Minako's delight seemed to fade at the mention of an encounter. "Yeah, several times. Usually under a different name each time. Ace Kaitou, Phantom Ace... Danburite." she replied regretfully.

"What?!"

Minako pursed her lips and nodded before pausing the movie. "Danburite was his real name."

"Mina, you -" Artemis started, unable to finish his sentence seeing Minako's pained expression and glossy eyes.

"Yeah. He was a great partner, and actor. But, it was all an act."

"Minako, why didn't you ever tell me before?" Artemis asked, resting a paw against her arm, the best comfort he could offer in his current form.

The girl gave him a big shrug in return. "I just – I just thought, if i was the only one to know, it'd be easier to forget about, and then I'd be able to enjoy him for the good he did." Lines of tears spilled over her lids now. "I miss him, Artemis." Minako scooped him up and held him close, rocking side to side as Ace's frozen face smiled back at her from the television.

* * *

**Juuban Primary School – Tuesday, October 13th**

"Hey Shingo. You wanna hang out with us after school, or are you too busy playing with dollies again?" sneered one of Shingo's classmates, crossing the room to the young Tsukino's desk with a gang of friends behind him.

"Leave me alone Yoshiro." replied Shingo, he had been watching birds outside but his eyes flashed to Mika's doll resting on his desk. "Don't you have homework to do something?"

"Finished it all, because I wasn't playing with dolls." the boy replied and held his hand out, one in his posse quickly slapped it in approval of his insult.

Shingo was quick to make a comeback. "I'm surprised you managed to get it done, what with your learning disability and all."

Yoshiro lunged at Shingo; although there was a desk between them, it hadn't mattered to either of the boys. Yoshiro snatched up the collar of Shingo's shirt, yanking him out of his chair. Shingo jerked back and forth, trying to break free before they both hit the ground.

Rolling around, locked in an even struggle, poorly formed fists collided with cheeks and chests, their legs thrashing about in the fracas. After a minute of tussling a ring of students had gathered around the boys before Shingo managed to roll on top. He slammed Yoshiro's head onto the tile floor and pinned him down, his arm pressed firmly against his neck.

"I said leave me alone!" Shingo spat.

With a grunt Yoshiro flailed about. Unsure of his movements Shingo lost his balance and was thrown backwards into his desk. The jolt of pain in his back was nothing compared to the sound of porcelain shattering in his ears.

Shingo whipped his head around and there on the ground lay Mika's broken doll.

"Hmph! Serves you right Tsukino!" Yoshiro sneered. Shingo glanced back to him and was met with a swift punch to his nose.

"What is going on?!" From the doorway came their teacher's shrill voice, in front of her Mika Kayama stood quiet. The two made their way through the slow dispersing crowd and paused at Shingo. "Oh! Shingo, your nose is bleeding."

Shingo hadn't noticed, he locked eyes with Mika before the girl turned her attention the doll on the ground.

"Shingo..." she muttered, crouching down and scooping up the whole of the doll.

"Heh, he broke your doll because it was ugly, that's what he said Mika!" Yoshiro shouted.

"Yoshiro! Go into the hall!" their teacher snapped, pointing to the door.

Shingo was nearly at the loss for words. "N – No, Mika I didn't. He pushed -"

His words fell on deaf ears as Mika's glossy eyes tore away from him and out of the classroom

"Mika wait!" Shingo called out, trying to follow after her only to have his teacher press firmly down on his shoulder.

"Hold still, we need to have this looked at." she murmured, wiping his nose with a handkerchief from her pocket.

Mika dashed down the halls of her school before she made her way outside, into the courtyard. Tear lines streaked down her face as she kept her eyes locked with the cracked doll face, her prize winning doll. Mika's gait was stopped once she ran into the legs of a man waiting by the yard entrance.

"Ooh!" she coughed, nearly falling over. "I – I'm sorry mister."

The man crouched down to her level and smiled. "No harm done little girl." Masato replied, his blank expression fading realizing the girl was in tears. "Is something wrong?"

Mika sniffled before holding the doll up to him. "It was my favorite, and now it's broken..."

Masato's eyes shone looking down at the doll. "I know who you are." he said sweetly. "I'm a fan of your mother's work, when I heard her daughter was following in her footsteps, and was just as good, I was amazed."

"Really?"

Masato gave her a deep nod before the doll off her hands, looking over it carefully. "I'll tell you what, I'm pretty handy with fixing things. Would you like me to fix your doll?"

"C – Can you really fix her?" Mika asked earnestly.

"I can, but you have to dry your tears first, this kind of magic doesn't work when little girls are sad." he teased before hiding the doll behind his back.

Mika nodded and began to furiously rub her eyes, wiping the tears away and leaving behind puffy red eyes.

"And here you are." Masato said with a slight growl as he brought the doll back, in apparent perfect condition.

"You fixed her!" Mika cheer, taking hold of the doll and inspecting her. "She's just like I made her! Thank you!" she cried, throwing her gangly arms around his neck.

"Heh, you're welcome."

* * *

Meanwhile at Usagi's school, Usagi was crouched down near the stairwell with her eyes locked on someone across the hall.

"Hey Usagi, what's up?" Makoto asked, too loud for Usagi's taste.

The blonde seemed frantic and motioned for her to crouch down to her level, which she did.

"What is it?"

Usagi pointed across the hall. Standing at her locker Ami was shifting side to side, clearly nervous and chatting with a boy. "It's Ryo!" Usagi whispered.

"How do you know that's him?" Makoto asked, becoming fully invested on spying on their friend now.

"She pointed him out to me this morning... and I yelled his name to get him to talk to Ami." Usagi replied.

"Looks like she's taking my advice and talking to him about how she feels." Makoto snorted with pride.

Usagi furrowed her brow. "Um, did you forget? She said she would talk to him, but wouldn't tell him how she felt just yet."

Makoto shrugged it off. "You never know, people can change their minds. Besides look at how she's acting, such a girly girl."

"Exactly, she's playing it cool! She's so in love with him!" Usagi squealed.

"Speaking of love, any update with the Tuxedo Mask Stalker Fan Club?"

Usagi pursed her lips and shook her head. "There's been nothing in the news about him since Sunday after they declared him, and yours truly, innocent. Thank Kami they did, now we can live happily together!"

"I wouldn't start picking out your wedding dress just yet." Makoto offered, standing up and looking around the hall. "I heard all the girls are in love with him now."

Usagi's jaw dropped as she hopped up. "What?! No fair, I saw him first!"

"Actually, Mina saw him first." Makoto corrected.

"Sometimes I wonder whose side you're really on Mako..." Usagi sighed and was given a playful nudge by the girl. "Besides, what do you mean the girls are in love with him? I've never even heard anyone mention him around here, except me!"

Makoto gave her a challenging look before she began pounding her fist against the nearest locker. After applying a beat down on it, the dented metal door swung open revealing schoolbooks and Tuxedo Mask merchandise. Usagi gaped at a line of top hat stickers on the door, a magnet in his liking attached to the back of the locker and a few candid Polaroid on the door.

"I can't believe it!"

"I'm sure there are plenty more lockers just like this one." Makoto said. "I guess after girls saw him on the news he became really popular. He doesn't do too much stuff in the daylight hours, so he must have been pretty unknown to the public until then."

Usagi's shoulders sagged as she began her usual whine and cry combination. "It's no fair! I've already named our kids..."

Makoto stifled a laugh with a cough. "Oh yeah? What names did you have in mind?"

Usagi bit her lip and giggled. "Well, I thought Chibiusa was really cute!"

* * *

Later that night the Wonder Show tent had only three people in it at this point, the show for the night had ended a few hours ago. Inside the single light bulb was working on overdrive, providing an amount of light that a single bulb shouldn't be able to produce.

"Wh – what are you gonna do to me?!"

Restrained on a long black table situated inside the tent, a young college student struggled to free himself. He didn't understand what was keeping him in place. There were no chains, no ropes, no brawny men with vice grip like holds on his arms and legs.

"Shh..." Zoisite hushed, dragging his cold hand along the man's jawline. "If I had had my way you would already know what I was going to do." Zoisite pouted and ghosted his hand down the man's chest and abdomen. "Or what I wanted to do..."

Shifting from foot to foot in the back of the tent Loki was becoming impatient. "Why do you keep me from my meal?" he barked. "Had I known you would be drooling over my capture I would have caught two of them!" Loki locked eyes with the struggling man.

"Capture?!" The man shrieked as he began flailing. The invisible binds on his limbs kept him securely in place, despite his aggressive trashing.

Zoisite scowled to Loki as he approached, looking over the man's body himself. The Shitennou passed him an accepting nod, signaling he was done ogling the man. Loki flashed his victim a mouthful of vicious teeth, the kind that belonged on dogs in hell, before digging his large hand into the man's chest.

His body seemed to cave in around the hand, no blood was spilt though. Loki was in up to his wrist, as if digging for treasure.

The man exhaled in ragged breaths as Loki began to pull back, the resulting action made up for the absence for blood as the life force of the man erupted from the cavity in his chest.

While the dying man's body shut down on him, Loki smiled at what remained beating in his hand. He dragged a wide tongue over his lips before his maw opened wide. Zoisite's expression turned to disgust as he watched Loki devour the man's heart.

Little did Loki know that he had a slightly larger audience to his feasting. Outside the tent, looking in through a sliver of space, Naru watched the man lick his bloody fingers clean.

Without realizing it her face had twisted around to show a kind of horror she had never felt before. Naru shifted slightly, wanting to get a better look at the other person inside.

Zoisite saw the slight change movement from the corner of his eye and snapped his head in that direction.

While licking his paws like a satisfied cat, Loki followed Zoisite's gaze to the tent entrance. His pleased expression turned to concern. "Is something wrong master?"

Jadeite narrowed his eyes and slipped his hands behind his back. "Someone is outside the tent, watching us." he answered calmly.

Naru stiffened and in her crouched position, began taking slow steps backwards. Her eyes widened as the two figures inside vanished into swirls of a black mist.

She stood still, half of her ready to creep forward again and look back inside, the other ready to sprint home. After a few minutes of contemplation, her worse half took over as she scooted closer to the tent, her hands slipping inside and yanking open the flap. She did a quick scan of the tent interior. Empty. except for the poor soul who was creating a puddle of blood near the table.

Again against her better judgement Naru ventured inside and cautiously made her way towards the table. Her eyes grew wide as she approached, taking in the pain expressed on the man's face.

Behind her Zoisite materialized. "The Wonder Show is closed!" he snapped.

Naru whipped around, and almost at the speed that was impossible to avoid, Zoisite extended a hand out to her. The Osaka girl hit the ground to avoid it and rolled under the table.

"Leave me alone!" she yelped before watching a pair of feet appear out of thin air to her right.

Loki swung his arm down towards the table, summoning his blade from its trans-dimensional home, slicing clear through his victim and the table.

Naru shrieked as the bifurcated corpse slipped off the table halves, landing beside her. After a frantic crab walk to get away from the body, Naru flipped over and dove for the flap entrance.

"Don't let her escape!" Zoisite commanded.

Loki nodded before his body lifted into the air and vanished again.

Outside, Naru's panicky gait had placed her a few good yards away from the tent. Ignoring a fast approaching car, she dashed across a stretch of the parking lot, making a beeline for the wooded area that surrounded it.

The pounding of her feet on the pavement, of her heart in her chest, and her ragged breaths alerted her to just how fast she was running.

When she reached the edge of the lot she threw herself up the small hump leading to the trees. Slipping on a patch of wet dirt and leaves, she fell face first into the bank. She then dug her nails into the ground and clawed her way up, gripping a skinny tree truck she hoisted herself up and spun around it, looking back at the lot.

Her wide eyes darted around, looking for the men from the tent. Her chest heaved as she continued to scan the nearly barren parking lot.

Other than herself, all she could hear was the wind creeping its way through the thick zone of trees and the distance buzz of a lamp. Withal, the buzz threatened to overwhelm her senses, to prevent her from hearing someone approaching her.

Feeling something at the back of her neck she spun around and pressed herself against the tree. She let out a minute yelp of surprise, seeing nothing but more trees behind her.

"Calm down..." she assured herself, resting a hand on her pounding chest.

As she started to follow her own advice something snapped off to the left. She entered panic mode again and tore off through the trees.

* * *

In the sky above the city Zoisite's temper flared. "I told you not to lose her!"

"I have not lost her." Loki answered dryly, gesturing to a wooded area he watched the girl vanish into. "She is in there."

Zoisite pinched the bridge of his nose. "Then go in there, AND BRING HER OUT!" The Shitennou slapped the Experiment's shoulder before he began massaging his temples.

Loki shrugged his shoulder before clasping his hands together, forming a seal with his fingers. "I shall trap her." Loki thrust his hands forward and from them shot a black dart, that flew down towards the trees. Stopping short of disappearing into the thicket the dart shifted to a murky purple and began to spread, covering a dome-like area of the trees. "She shall not escape the infamous Myrkviðr, the great black forest of the Norse!"

* * *

A shrill beep caused the stirring women in bed to wake fully.

Ilargi slowly raised up into a sitting position, rubbing a spot on her sore back. With a groan she swung her legs out and tapped her toes against the floor. It took a moment, but eventually the chill encasing her room caught up to her.

The beep continued.

She eased out of bed, this time with a sigh, and swept a small box and a lighter off her bedside table. Flicking the underside of the box, a solitary cigarette presented itself to her lipstick smeared lips. After a few clicks and shakes the lighter had done its job and was tossed aside.

"Alright... I hear you..." she muttered to the beep that hadn't died down. Taking a drag, she sauntered across her empty room, moving only past a solitary glass table.

Reaching the far wall she eased her bare body down into a familiar seat, the chair at her desk. Bumping the mouse, the darkness over the desk came to life with an unnatural light. Four computer monitors on the desk lit up, while three more screens placed on the wall above flickered to life.

While in her half-asleep stupor Ilargi began to operate the systems. Typing in her codes and passwords, all needed to activate her computer, before an explosion of windows began flooding the screens. Through hooded lids she continued, clicking away notifications and messages before finding the reason she'd been woken.

In a black window on her main monitor a green line, much like a heart monitoring line, was making large jumps with dips of a similar degree. Ilargi hummed to herself before leaning back in her throne, taking a long drag and narrowing her eyes through the trail of smoke.

"Someone's synced another world to this one..." With a short huff of a sigh Ilargi grabbed her phone and dialed in the number to her Division office's phone. She rocked side to side before a familiar voice picked up.

"Good evening ma'am." Iah said.

Ilargi did a combination of a sigh and exhalation into the phone. "Enough with the ma'am... Anyway, I want you to check the dimensional reports, there's some strange activity. I never expected for the systems to give off this kind of reading."

"I'll look into them right away." Iah responded and Ilargi listened to the soft clicking of a keyboard in the background.

Ilargi glanced to the corner of her monitor screen, it was nearly midnight. "If you can get an accurate reading on the signals send a team in to the location to scout it out."

"Yes, ma'am." Iah responded.

Ilargi rubbed her forehead before sighing again. "I'll look over your findings in the morning."

"Okay, try to enjoy the rest of your night."

Ilargi flipped her phone shut and tapped out the cigarette before returning to her bed, and to the sleeping man she had left in it. "Sadly, I've gotten all the enjoyment I can get out this night." Her soft blue eyes gazed over the man's features, the moonlight that came through her window illuminated his exposed body.

* * *

Naru wasn't sure how long she'd been running, but it felt like a fire was playing pinball inside her lungs. She nearly collapsed against a tree to take a breather and slapped a hand onto her side where an intense twinge of pain was erupting from.

"Gah!" Naru hunched over and used the tree for support she emptied the contents of her stomach. Her skin was cold, calmly, but she was burning up and dripping with sweat. Her eyes clamped shut and she listened to her heart continue to race.

Slowly, inch by inch, Naru could feel herself drifting back. She furrowed her brow and dropped a weak arm to her side, expecting the rough tree bark under her fingers she was troubled by the spongy material that was there instead.

"What...?" She rasped as she felt something pulling on her fingers. With some difficulty she pulled herself off from the tree and spun around to it. An imprint of her body in the tree was slowly fading away as the strange tree began to take on its original shape.

She furrowed her brow and took a step back only to collapse on the ground as her foot sunk through the earth."ACK!" She screeched and rolled onto her side, yanking her leg out. She quickly began to brush off the mud as well as small black wiggling things she didn't care to examine further. She scurried to her feet and took off again.

The more she ran the more she took notice of the changes around her. The thin trees had turned black and were becoming twisted. Winding around themselves until they resembled dark coils with claw-like branches reaching out for her, some smacking across her face when she passed.

As she ducked under the ever-changing trees she occasionally stepped into various holes. The pain of her erect leg falling into pits racked her body anew each time.

Soon her running turned into hobbling, stumbling, and tripping. She stepped into another weak spot in the ground and her leg sunk through. She hit the cold ground hard again, the front of her school uniform now soaked through.

"I just wanna go home..." she sobbed and used her hands like claws to pull herself free. Reaching out her hand cupped something bulbous that she used to pull herself completely free. She sighed and cried for a moment and rested her head near whatever had helped her get free.

Taking her hand off it she stared down at a large dark ball. Beside it her eyes were drawn to another ball with a large flower sprouting from it. It had five thick red petals and was covered with yellow spots. She dared to get closer and got a whiff of it, but instantly flinched away as the smell of rotting flesh hit her nose.

"YUCK!" Naru shouted, she slapped her face, rubbing her nose, trying to rid her senses of the smell. She glanced down to the flower, wondering what could smell so rancid before a gust of a dark powder exploded from the center of the flower.

Naru fell back as the powder flew into her face, into her eyes, up her nose, down her throat. She rolled over and began to cough hard, trying to rid herself of whatever it was. Her nostrils were set ablaze and her throat went dry, but as fast as it had happened the feeling was gone.

She blinked and gazed at the ground with watery eyes before whipping her head around to the flower. Having done its job, its petals were closing up. She staggered to her feet and swayed for a moment, a feeling of light headedness swarming her senses.

Naru tried to shake it as she began to hobble again, but it wouldn't clear. The woods began to rotate and swirl around her. She saw macabre faces displayed on the trees, their branches acting like hands that tried to grab her. She fought her way through them before collapsing again.

"I can't – go any further..." she sobbed, wanting to stay on the ground forever as the world continued to spin around her. Something small prodding her side forced her off the ground regardless. She hobbled to a large rock and rested against it for a moment.

She listened to the unfamiliar sounds of tree trunks moving and the ground shifting before something she recognized hit her ears: the sound of a tree branch snapping. She sat frozen, listening again as another branch was snapped, she was sure now it had been done so under the weight of someone's foot.

Anxiety crawled up the back of her neck as the soft squish of the ground was heard next. Gritting her teeth she refused to remain seated and took off again. Sprinting and stumbling through the masses of black and twisted trees and marshy earth.

She only dared to look back once, seeing nothing but unfamiliar woods. Naru whipped her head back around to the front, and caught a glimpse of something grey standing in her path.

It was too late to avoid whatever it was. She ran straight into it and instinctively tucked her arms in towards her chest. It gave slightly before pushing back on her.

Naru's breath forced itself into her chest before she expelled it all with a scream, one that blasted past her surroundings and reached the far edges of the wooded area.

Heat rushed to her head, her vision blurred and soon her legs gave way, sending her falling back into darkness.

Instead of feeling the cold damp ground under her, that expected feeling was replaced by a pair of arms. She was lifted, much like a doll and carried away.

Occasionally she awoke, but felt her lids too heavy to open. She often murmured unintelligible lines to her carrier. Eventually all she resigned to do was listen to the sound of snapping twigs and the slosh of the ground under their heavy steps.

She was already lost when they found her, and she had no idea were she was being taken now.

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty**  
**

* * *

Next, Naru's attraction towards Masato grows despite her friends' wishes. Tuxedo Mask and Sailor V are reunited during a midnight heist and when a Princess is planning to visit Tokyo with special gem, can the Guard use her to lure out the Dark Kingdom? Find out next time_  
_**Chapter Twenty-One - Opulence**_  
_


	21. Opulence

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about throughout the story.

**Note:** Thank you to Student of History for following, and to ericaphoenix16, avesiji, StaticLove21, DonovanX, BelieveInUs, LoveInTheBattleField, and WeirdRaptor for reviewing.

* * *

******Chapter Twenty One -** Opulence

* * *

The soft popping of a fire and its soothing warmth eased Naru out of her deep sleep. Her lids fluttered open and she slowly stretched out. She listened to her sore joints pop and at the height of her stretch, her legs trembled from the pure pleasure of being worked again.

Slipping a thick quilt she had been wrapped up in off her body, she raised up into a sitting position. "Wow..." she breathed. Glancing around the room she was in, she took notice of her plush surroundings.

She had been sleeping on a lush rug that had been rolled out over top a thick carpet, across from her the fire had been contained within a hearth the size of OSA-P's display cases. There were no other sources of light in the room, the fire cast a warm light over the entire den-like room, making the shadows dance.

She stood slowly and took the opportunity to stretch again, vertically now. Dropping the quilt to the side she took notice of her clothes. Her school uniform was gone and she was dressed in a long white t-shirt and ill-fitting sweatpants.

"Whose clothes...?" Naru muttered before yanking on the drawstrings, synching the pants at her waist, making them fit a bit better. They were still too long for her, long enough that they blocked half of her feet from touching the ground as she walked to the exit, a pair of large wooden doors.

In the hallway she glanced to the sides, off to the right was more of the hallway that led to more rooms. On her left was just a small landing strip followed by a small set of stairs that curled around into another set of stairs. Down below she could see doors and windows, she guessed by the amount of sunlight coming through, the doors were her exit.

As she made her way down to the first floor, Naru took the time to notice how beautiful this place was.

Ornately carved wood railings, soft carpet that the carpet at home couldn't hold a candle to. High walls equipped with equally high windows let in gleaming sunlight that reflected off clean white walls and illuminated the entire house, or mansion. Reaching the ground floor Naru's toes tapped against the waxed wood floor.

Her hands ghosted over the golden door handles before pulling it open. The full brunt of the sunlight hit her hard, resulting a dull pain in the back of her mind. "Oww..." She shielded her eyes best she could while still getting a chance to see what was outside.

The house seemed to be situated in the middle of some clearing, a blanket of green grass surrounded the property. In the far distance she could see trees. Memories of the previous night came rushing back. Running, the woods, the trees, the flower. The men in the tent.

She reached a hand out to the glass storm door ahead of her and gripped the handle cautiously.

"Are you leaving so soon?" a voice asked from behind her.

Naru felt her skin tingle and something in the pit of her stomach drop.

She remained still and listened to the sound of footsteps approaching. Her hand trembled on the handle once the steps ceased.

"You can't leave looking like you do, don't you want-"

"AHHH!" Naru whipped around and shoved aside the man behind her. Her effort was in vain through, he was like a brick wall. She instead ended up pushing herself away from him which served her almost just as well. She stumbled into the wall before barreling down the hallway.

Naru glanced from right to left, a hall on each side. She picked left and darted down it as the man called out something from the entrance. Stopping again she spotted a door to the side. Instantly Naru flung it open and then threw herself inside. Slamming it and fiddling to lock the door behind her.

She pressed herself against the door and listened to the soft echo of his footsteps coming closer. Naru pushed off the door and spun around, catching a glimpse of something moving behind her she let out a howl of a scream.

Naru then tried to calm her rapidly beating heart, staring at herself in the mirror of a bathroom. Managing to calm down she took a step closer and noticed she'd been cleaned off.

Although she wasn't sure what she looked like last night, she assumed she had been a mess and that, sometime before or after her clothes had been taken, she was cleaned up.

A rapping on the door startled her. She whipped around and gripped the sink counter's edge to brace herself, half expecting the man to force his way inside.

"What do you want from me?!"

"How about a chance to talk," the voice replied. "I thought we could have breakfast as well."

Naru furrowed her brow, now that fear wasn't overwhelming her she was able to realize the voice was familiar.

"I didn't mean to startle you, Naru."

Puzzled, she scooted to the door, clicking off the lock before she pulled it open. Waiting for her on the other side was none other than Masato Sanjouin.

"Ma – Masato?" Naru asked meekly, swinging the door open fully. Her fear washing away and being replaced with elation, mixed with confusion.

He regarded her with a charming smile that made Naru melt. "Hello there." He stepped off to the left, gesturing in that direction and Naru followed.

The small hall opened into a kitchen with a joined dining room. Entering the kitchen they were behind a row of granite covered counters. Several items were covering them in mild clutter, but the good kind, the kind of clutter Naru had seen on cooking shows. Where the chef makes it look like their kitchen is a mess with so many things lying around, but nothing is ever in the way and they find everything easily.

Masato led her out around the counters and into a wide open room surrounded by floor to ceiling windows that gave her a view of the clearing again. Situated in the middle of the room was a long wooden dining table with numerous chairs on its sides.

Her eyes drifted to a seat at the far end, a newspaper and a plate had already been placed there.

"Have a seat." Masato offered as he pulled out a chair, the one directly to the left of the seat with breakfast already served.

"Thank you, Masato..." Naru eased down into the chair and smiled as he took his seat beside her.

He smiled back before snapping his fingers. From the adjoining room came two women, both dressed alike in tailored black slacks, white shirts, and black vests. The first had blonde hair while the other had dark locks, both women kept their hair up in tight buns.

"Bring our guest breakfast." Masato commanded and the two women nodded before heading behind the counters.

Naru watched them maneuver around one another as they began preparing a meal for her. After several minutes they returned to the table and set down one plate and a cup. Naru was ready to dig in but the women continued to make trips back and forth, bringing with them more plates, drinks, pitchers, and silverware.

When they were done Naru was sitting in front of a buffet for a family of ten with at least four kinds of forks and spoons. A variety of drinks from ice water to a green sweet smelling juice had been placed in front of her as well. Masato smirked at her while he watched the girl survey the food before finally digging in.

Naru enjoyed food she would never have thought to ask her mom to make for her. She scarfed down two omelets, along with a small grilled fish she rolled together with rice and a bit of dry seaweed, all of which she dipped in soy sauce. She downed a few bowls of piping hot soup and alternated between gulping down water and the mystery juice that sent her tastebuds in frenzy.

"Oh... I'm so full." Naru slid her fork onto her plate and looked over the rest of the food that she hadn't touched. She was beginning to regret making the waist of her temporary sweats so tight.

Masato folded the newspaper he was reading over itself before handing it to one of the women who disappeared with it a moment later. "Did you enjoy your meal?"

Naru smiled weakly, trying to avoid eye contact and sat up her in her seat. "Yes, thank you, it was really tasty." Naru rubbed her feet together and nibbled on her lip, she had a question that was begging to be asked. "Masato."

"I found you, several yards deep into the woods." Masato answered before Naru could even get another word in. He turned his gaze to his drink, stirring the dark liquid with a small spoon. "I was out for a walk and heard some strange sounds. I assumed it was some kids, but I found you instead."

His charming smile and welcoming eyes were turned back to Naru. The girl felt heat rush to her face and a smile of her own spreading. "Thank you, for finding me and bringing me to your beautiful home..."

"Not a problem, I certainly couldn't leave you out there." he responded, furrowing his brow. "The girls cleaned you up last night, you were covered in mud. Your clothes were also cleaned, they're waiting for you upstairs."

"Oh, thank you."

"I have question of my own to ask you Naru."

"Yeah?" she responded, leaning against the table, closer to him.

"What the hell were you doing in the woods?" He demanded. "When I found you, you were frantically running and you screamed... You made me believe you were being chased."

"I was!" she shouted, wanting to defend her actions. "By two men! One was wearing a grey suit and had long strawberry blonde hair! And the other, he had long white hair and wore all black! Masato, this probably sounds crazy, but the white haired guy, I watched him eat someone's heart!"

Masato narrowed his eyes at Naru before easing back in his seat. Her words resonated within him. "Well, if you don't want to tell me what you were really doing then that's fine. I suppose I'll respect your wishes."

"But, I'm telling you the truth! I know it sounds stupid, but there are weird things happen in Tokyo!"

Masato nodded before rising and walking along the wall of windows. "As much as I've enjoyed your company Naru, I do think it's time you headed home. Your parents must be worried sick about you."

Naru frowned, if only that was the case. "My mom is out of town on a business trip, so I'm staying at home by myself..."

Masato turned to glance at her before nodding to himself. "Then would you like a ride to school?"

"SCHOOL?!" Naru screeched and scanned the walls, searching for a clock. "I totally forgot!"

"It's just after seven, plenty of time for you to get ready and make it to school in time."

Naru gave up her search and smiled softly to Masato who was turned from her again. "Thank you, again, Masato..."

* * *

After school that day the Warriors headed to headquarters where they were put through their typical workout regimen. They each were dressed in cotton copy of their Warrior suits with bands of weights strapped around their wrists and ankles. Usagi collapsed in the hallway to the training room from the weight, begging Makoto to carry her as she often did.

The padded training room was mostly empty, mostly agents sparring in the far corners which left the girls plenty of room to work. After upping the number of weights since their last training session Desi and Gesi gave the girls time to get accustomed to the change, spending about twenty minutes limbering up. The girls chatted about their day while helping each other down into side splits.

They used sparring poles for balance across their shoulders as they twisted and turned, kneeled, squatted, and lunged. With some help from the twins the girls moved onto handstands, walking in wide circles by themselves before walking around one another. They finished that with forward and backward bends, moving onto flips with the twins guiding their bodies.

After working their muscles the girls split to work individually. Makoto worked on strength training, hefting large medicine balls across the room to one of the twins. After that she'd move onto the punching bag before having one of the agents grab a guard so she could practice with a moving target.

Minako's work focused mostly on speed, accuracy, and strength. Suicides across the room, wall-climbing, more running, flips, timed weapon draw time, followed by more running. She used a large disc, roughly the weight of her own and practiced hurling it across the room and how fast she could drop into a defensive position.

Usagi's routine focused on strength training, swinging her lance in specific patterns a certain amount of time, slicing through objects of increasing density and deflecting attacks of increasing strength. She often moved her training into the tiled room to practice her aim on Spores.

While the girls trained several Protectors gathered in the hallway, discussing news Ilargi had come across recently.

"A princess?" Kalla asked.

Ilarg nodded, she could practically see the skepticism on his face. "From Wales, and she's coming here."

"Do they just give anyone the title of princess now?" Kalla asked, looking around the others in the hall for backup. "I mean, our Princess – she was something else."

Luna scowled and slapped him in the chest. "I won't let you talk about her while I'm standing right beside you!"

"I'm just saying! What makes her so special?"

"She's bringing with her an ancient diamond." Ilargi answered. "Iah picked up a transmission between two Welsh flight companies, the diamond is pretty valuable. It holds the record for the most theft attempts of any possession in the world."

"Artemis already found the Crystal, or pieces of it, why do we care what the Welsh brat has?" Kalla said dryly.

"What if I told you that Welsh brat could be our Princess?" Ilargi responded smugly.

"I'd tell you to show me proof."

The redhead sighed, blowing up a stand up her hair. "I wish I had some. All we have is speculation so far, the diamond is valuable and highly sought after. Several of the attempts reported supernatural activity which leads me to believe more than a just your average thieves have been after it." Ilargi paused, noting the doubtful looks surrounding her. "I mean if you have better suggestions I'd love to hear them. We've gotten nowhere in the search for her, and this is the first promising lead. At the very least we should be there."

"When is she coming?" Losna asked.

"The 27th."

"That's not even two weeks away." Luna said. "Is it really worth dropping our duties to formulate a plan for her arrival? How would we even get close to her?"

"She's coming here to display the diamond in an art gallery that evening." Ilargi smirked in Kalla's direction. "She'll need heavy security of course, and someone who controls the SAT and has an in with the Superintendent of police shouldn't have a problem getting a team of _guards_ into the event."

Kalla slowly shook his head. "Sakurada is getting fed up with me, I don't know how many more favors I can get out of her."

"I'm sure you can convince her to let you handle this one." Ilargi responded off-handedly. "You're a good looking man with a sharp tongue, getting another favor out of her shouldn't be a problem."

Kalla smiled wickedly. "Heh, well I do have a way with women."

"Good to know." Ilargi responded, uninterested. "Once we're inside the gallery the fragments of the Crystal will react if she's the real deal."

"Are you sure?" asked Losna.

"Well, no. But they should," Ilargi offered in a hopeful tone. "but there's more, Iah had a brilliant idea."

Luna folded her arms, mulling everything over. "Listening."

"We can lure in the Dark Kingdom with this princess."

"You're going to use our Princess as bait?" Kalla snapped.

"She might not even be real, relax."

"But if she is?"

"It's even better. In order to get them to the event we have to send out transmissions for them to pickup. At the mention of a princess and an ancient crystal being in the same place Beryl and her dogs will be drooling over the chance to be there. Since the diamond is a fake it's less for us to worry about and if the girl isn't our Princess then we still have the Dark Kingdom. This could be our chance to strike first."

"She's right." Losna nodded in agreement. "It sounds like a good plan."

"It sounds risky to me." Luna added. "No doubt there will be some important people there, I'd bet the Prime Minister or the Emperor shows up, what if things get out of hand if the Dark Kingdom realizes the diamond or the girl are a fake?"

"That's why we have to be on our A-game, and why Kalla needs total control over the security detail for that event. With the police and the SAT, along with us and the Warriors. There's no way we can lose."

"It actually does sound like a good plan." Makoto said, stepping out from the doorway.

"Were you eavesdropping? You're as bad as – Usagi." Luna said, watching the blond walk out behind Makoto, followed by Minako.

"So this princess, could she really be who we've been looking for?" Minako asked, folding her arms behind her head.

"It's about as good a bet as any at this point." Ilargi answered. "The way I see it, we can't afford not to check this out. If she is real and they get their hands on her she's dead on the spot."

Kalla nodded, determination coming over his features. "She's right, our struggle with them has really been one sided so far. We need the Princess, she can change the tide of this in our favor."

"Is she really that great?" Usagi asked as she popped the cap off a water bottle and chugged half of it.

"The Princess was still in training to become Queen someday when it all happened, so her powers weren't fully evolved yet, but still her awakening is enough to shatter the Dark Kingdom's foundation." Luna said sternly.

"And with the power of the Crystal she'll be even stronger." Losna added.

"If the Princess really does have the Silver Crystal, it'll be a lucky break for us, huh?" Usagi asked.

The Protectors nodded in agreement.

"You girls should get back to training." Luna offered.

"Aww... But our break just started." Usagi groaned.

Makoto smiled before ushering her back into the room.

"You know what they say, it's better to have had love and lose it, than to never be loved."

"That's not how they phrase goes honey." Ilargi reminded as the girls headed back inside. "Luna, when are you going to tell them about the Crystal?"

The woman shrugged in return. "Mani said it would be best for us to wait until we had the Princess."

"Well, if all goes our way on the 27th, that problem should be solved." Kalla said.

Ilargi bit down onto her lip. "I don't like lying to those girls, or keeping secrets."

* * *

"I'm beat!" Rui shouted to herself in the changing room at the tennis club. She tossed her racket aside and began to work the muscles in her shoulder. "Only bad part of it getting colder is now we're all stuffed in that buildings stuffy room. I'd much rather be outside..."

"Yeah it's terrible..." Tensuni said impatiently from the doorway. She watched the girl carefully, she was sure she'd seen her energy reach its peak several times today, only to drop down into a normal range a moment later.

"I'm glad I have you around Ten, you keep me motivated." Rui said back to her with a smile. "I'm going to be so ready for that tournament at the end of the month!"

Tensuni's eyes opened seeing Rui take a step and nearly collapse into the lockers. "You alright?" she asked and she moved over to help her.

"I'm fine!" Rui snapped, batting away her hand. "I don't need your help!" she paused, pressing herself against the locker, giving into the feeling of weakness for just a moment, long enough to gather her strength again.

"Tsk. I'm stuck babysitting this temperamental girl..." Tensuni looked at her racket and imaging bashing Rui over the head with it and using it to strangle her. "That would certainly speed this job up..."

"Why are you talking to yourself...?" Rui mumbled as she managed to stand.

Tensuni dropped the racket, knowing how furious Nephrite would be at her. "No reason."

* * *

Several hours later a woman parked a delivery truck on the street. "We're here." she said in a rough English accent as she switched off the engine.

A man in the passenger seat clutched a black two-way radio in his meaty paw and clicked the button off, waiting for a response.

"Okay, we're all set back here." a man replied over the radio,

"Get the back open Bruce." she said to the man sitting beside her. She tossed Bruce the keys, which he clumsily dropped on the floor.

"Yes ma'am, Thetis." Bruce was a man in his late forties. Smart as a sack of rocks, but strong like a bull and suitable for this line of work.

Thetis hopped down from the truck they had taken and made her way to the back, mentally cursing herself for volunteering for this job. "Tsk. Beryl said this was an important job, a crucial step in the right direction... All its been so far is a babysitting job for these Americans..."

Once Bruce had the back unlocked he threw the sliding door up, revealing three more men all waiting inside. At the sign of Thetis' nod they hopped out from the back and shuffled across the street, heading into jewelery store on the other side.

"How is everything looking up there Martin?" Thetis asked into a small earpiece, her eyes darted across the street and up a few floors to a rooftop. If Martin wanted to live through the night he had better have been keeping a close eye on the street for anything suspicious. "Take out any cop cars you see, the last thing I need tonight are the pigs around." she said as the radio clipped to Bruce's waist cracked to life.

"We got the stuff Thetis, we're comin' out." one of the men replied.

As she watched Bruce make room in the truck back the men had emerged from the store, clutching several duffels between them.

"We got 'em Thetis!" One of them shouted. "We got the diamonds!"

"Great, now keep your voice down and load them into the truck." she replied and stepped aside so they could load their stolen gems. "Excellent." Thetis said. mainly to herself as she watched the men dash back across the street and into the building.

This started a series of several trips back and forth to the truck and the building, each time returning with more bags.

"The Crystal has to be in one of these bags..." Thetis said, groping one of the bags to make sure they really had been filling them full. "These gems were supposed to have been shipped from locations all over the world."

"We're ready ready to go." Bruce said and nodded towards the truck before he walked back to the passenger side.

Thetis nodded before tapping her earpiece. "Martin, everything still look okay? We're getting ready to move out."

Silence.

"Martin! Don't make me call for you again!" Thetis roared, on the other end of the receiver she heard a low groan before someone answered.

"Martin's a little, tied up." a man replied. He snatched a pair of binoculars off Martin's unconscious body and found the woman on the street below glaring up at him.

Standing on the edge of the rooftop Tuxedo Mask waved down to Thetis before he was joined by Sailor V.

"I'm guessing those are the jewel thieves." she said smugly, taking the binoculars from Mask.

The man sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm the only one allowed to steal jewels in this town. They're going to ruin my streak."

"Well then, let's go stop them." V replied before uncoiling Martin from one of her whips and taking hold of Mask's arm.

The masked man smiled before leaping off the building, switching into his glider mode to slow their decent before they landed on the nearly empty street below.

Thetis narrowed her eyes at the duo before her. "Two freaks playing dress up, run home before you get yourself hurt."

"The only one getting messed up tonight is you!" V announced, aiming a gloved finger at her.

"Boys!" Thetis shouted and from the front of the truck came Bruce and the other three men, each wielding a weapon capable of bludgeoning someone to death. "Kill them both."

As the three men charged in for an attack the two old friends mimicked them. Mask swooped to the right while V took left, flanking the trio. From within his jacket Mask brandished his staff, extending it instantly and cracking it down on the back of the man closest to him.

V did a quick sweeping kick, knocking one of their legs out from under them. The man she assaulted fell hard, his chin slamming on to the street in the process.

Bruce growled before charging V, the nimble heroine had no problems avoiding him though. Pressing down onto his shoulders she did a quick flip over and rushed to Mask. The thief waited with his staff held out flat for her. V jumped onto the shaft before Mask hurled her into the air.

V tucked her limbs in, spinning around in the air before she extended her leg, bringing it down onto the top of Bruce's head. The man veered forward with a howl before he too collapsed.

"Too easy!" V cheered as she watched Mask drag one of the men over to his partner. "I got this one." she said and snatched up the collar of Bruce's jacket. "C'mon big boy!"

"Hah!" Bruce cackled as he broke away from V and shuffled behind her, his thick arm snaking around her neck and a small knife appearing from his pocket. "Make a move Mask boy and the girl dies!"

Mask snorted before throwing his hands up. "Easy fella, no need for anyone to get hurt... More than they already have."

As Mask took a small step forward Bruce forced the knife against V's neck and took a step back towards the truck. Thetis was inside now and had started up the engine. With a quick glance behind him Bruce maneuvered his way into the truck back, tugging V with him.

"You're making a mistake." V warned as she tried to force herself of his grasp, testing his strength more than anything else.

Bruce snorted into her ear before banging his fist on the truck wall, a signal for Thetis to go. The engine roared to life before it tore off from the spot. "Been nice knowin' ya!" Bruce shouted before he released V and shoved her off the back.

Mask dashed forward and caught V. Setting her down he glanced around the street. "We need to follow them." At the end of the street his eyes spotted a parked squad car and police officer motorcycle. "Got our ride!"

"This will do nicely..." Mask said as he ran to the abandoned police motorcycle. "You ready V?"

"Hold on!" she shouted as she dashed up to the parked squad car. "Oh, hello." V said sweetly as she glanced into the backseat. "Score!"

"Stealing an officer's bike..." Mask said as he watched the girl bust into the window and emerge with a rifle and two pistols. "And now their guns. If we get caught we're in for a world of trouble."

"I'm too cute for prison." V said as she stuffed one of the pistols into his jacket pocket, the other went into the hidden fold of her bow. She then positioned herself on the back of the bike, the rifle between them as he wrapped her arms around his waist. "Let's go."

Mask nodded before revving the bike and taking off down the street. The duo swerved between cars to avoid getting stuck as they tailed the black truck that was driving carelessly through the streets.

"I bet they're heading towards the docks!" V shouted over the sound of the rushing wind. "I'm pretty sure I heard one of them mention a boat!"

"Do you know how to get there?" Mask asked as he made a sharp left turn. The truck had done the same only a minute before and managed to smash into a small green bug.

"Yeah, but we'll never catch up to them like this, this bike is shit." V huffed and turned her head to the right. "Shortcut, I know a shortcut! Turn left here."

"On it." Mask said and made another sharp turn, sending the bike flying across an intersection before speeding down a small residential two-lane street.

"Then right."

"On it."

"Cut them off." A pointed finger gestured to a red sports car that was pulling out of a garage.

"You sure?" he asked skeptically, though he began to speed up.

"Yup..." V hummed before finally tightening her hold on him.

Mask sped up and their bike flew down the street, causing the red car to slam on the brakes immediately.

"Alright, now cut through their yard!" V pointed to a house with a wide front yard.

"Alright." Mask turned the handles to the left as the bike jumped the curb and tore through the grass. The car fishtailed as he maneuvered to avoid hitting the house itself and ended up in the backyard. "V! Get my staff, we'll need to bust through the fence!"

V nodded and snaked her hands around to get the weapon, her hands grasping something of similar shape.

"Gah!" Mask went bug eyed. "That's not the staff!"

V jerked her hand back, embarrassed, before she poked around in her bow, pulling forth her compact. "Crescent Shot!" she shouted and a blinding beam broke through the fence, blasting an opening for them in it. After passing through two more yards they hopped another curb and ended back up on the street.

"There they are!" V pointed to the black truck far ahead of them that was driving just as recklessly. "I'll try and stop them." V said and picked up the rifle, clicking the safety off and aiming over Mask's shoulder.

"Shit." Mask looked to the side, the rifle by his ear. "It's going to be too loud!"

"That's the least of our problems." V said hearing a familiar sound coming from behind. Police sirens.

V slid the rifle back down between them and fetched the pistol. "Keep the bike as steady as you can." V said as she wrapped her legs around Mask's waist and laid back on the bike and took aim at the car.

Mask let out a loud click from his mouth that signaled V as he took the bike for a sharp left turn, V allowed herself to slide off the bike to the right. As the bike made its turn she swung herself up and off to the left, firing several shots in the process. Each of the bullets spun from the barrels and whizzed around the street corner were they lodged themselves in the hood of the police car that was ready to turn.

V fired off a few more shots, these all meeting with car tires of citizen's cars that caused them to swerve into the middle of the street and block traffic. V curled her body and sat up, unlatching her legs before she held onto Mask again. "Hopefully that keeps them off our tail for a while."

"Think you can take care of the truck without using the rifle?" Mask asked, digging the other pistol out from his jacket and holding it back to her.

"Got it..." she responded as she took the gun and checked the clip on the other pistol. She then leaned to the side, holding onto Mask for support as she fired a few bullets at the truck ahead, successfully ricocheting several bullets off the road under the car and piercing the bottom of the vehicle.

* * *

"Thetis they got us!" Bruce hollered out when the bullets flew up through the floor of the car near his feet.

"I can see that!" Thetis snapped tugged on the wheel, sending the car left instantly and out of V's line of fire. "Bruce take the wheel!"

The beefy man grabbed hold of the wheel and watched the road as Thetis slid out the window and took a shotgun from under her seat with her.

Once the bike following them was in sight she took aim at its tires, but before she could shoot a bullet went flying past her head. Her eyes opened wide to find V leaning out over the bike, a gun aimed at her.

"Don't even think about it!" V shouted above the sound of honking cars and Thetis cursed under her breath.

"The diamonds are ours!" Thetis clenched her gun before a blue light swam over it, changing the mechanics of the weapon, now resembling a machine gun. Pulling on the trigger she sprayed the road with bullets, one managing to pierce the back tire of the bike. The tire broke open and the bike began to fishtail before colliding with a car next to it and turning sideways.

* * *

"Mask!" V cried seeing a new squad car fast approaching from behind.

"Shit!"

Mask's bike was struggling to go anywhere when the squad car hit. Mask and V were thrown into the air and through the chaos Mask whipped out his cane, extending it and propelling himself into the air. His arm wrapped around a flailing Sailor V and the two soared over the city as Mask's cape switched into its glider form.

"We could have died!" V shouted, her eyes locked onto the pile up of cars that was happening below. Their stolen bike had been trampled down and wasn't far off from catching fire.

"Can your compact fire again?" Mask asked as he maneuvered through the skies, flying just behind the speeding truck.

V hummed and dug the weapon out. "Maybe, but it won't be that powerful."

"We just need to stop the truck, or at least make it hard for them to reach the dock." Mask responded.

V nodded and aimed the compact out at the truck below, the inside of it glowing dimly before it shot out a slender white beam. "Crescent Shot!"

The truck swerved to the right and avoided the beam that crashed into the street, blowing up chunks of the road.

"Dammit!" V shook the compact but could see the natural glow it had was dying down. "That's was the last one, it needs to recharge."

"Take my staff. There are darts in the bottom, fire at them." Mask offered.

"No good, we're already at the docks!" V shouted and pointed ahead of them, the truck was speeding towards a tall chain link fence that surrounding the shipping yard, just beyond that were rows of docked boats and a body of water.

"You'll have to stop them when they switch into their boat then!" Mask shouted as they dove down, following after the truck through the now broken fence. "I'll stay above and assist."

V kicked her legs in a running motion as they approached the ground, once her feet were on solid ground Mask released her and she took off sprinting across the property. Mask shot into the sky again and watched below as V ran up to the parked truck.

She leapt back as the door flew open and Thetis began firing at her. Backflipping away she rounded to the back of the truck and scrambled onto the roof. "C'mon baby, one more shot." she pleaded to her compact as she aimed. To her surprise the compact fired and blasted a hole big enough for her to slip through. Stashing away the compact she eased down into the back of the truck, landing on the pile of duffels.

Bruce jerked around and cocked his pistol at her but was blinded a moment later as the girl erupted in a flash of light.

Warrior Venus emerged from that light, disc halves fixed to her wrists and chain at the ready as she lunged for Bruce. She quickly wrapped the chain around his neck, strangling him. Frantically Bruce grasped at the door, managing to open it and send himself and Venus tumbling out.

Venus coughed hard upon impact and slammed her feet into his back, pulling on the chain tighter before Thetis came around the back.

With her gun at the ready another wave of blue swam over it, changing the weapon into a shotgun. Venus rolled onto her knees, bringing Bruce with her. Thetis wasted no time in firing, with a quick pull on the trigger she riddled Bruce's thick body with bullets.

Venus dropped her wasted human shield and the chains changed form, no longer simple metal ones, but now their razor sharp versions. Thetis hurled her gun in Venus' direction, using it as a distraction as she charged the Warrior.

As Venus deflected the weapon she was unprepared for Thetis to attack her directly. The woman backhanded her before hurling her off to the side. Venus rolled away and listened to Thetis stomp around inside the truck.

"Nice knowing ya Warrior brat!" Thetis called out as she rushed towards the dock, several duffels in her hands which she tossed into a motorboat she had waiting there. Hopping into it she started the engine and pulled away from the other boats slowly.

"You're not getting away!" Venus rasped before darted across the pavement and fired out her chain spire to the boat, the metal point piercing the back and hooking her too it. Venus was then yanked off as the platform as the boat sped away. She quickly dropped one of her disc halves and stepped onto it, using it as a ski of sorts.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you?" Thetis shouted. "Well we're on my turf now!" Thetis did a quick series of hand signs before spraying a thin jet of water out towards Venus.

The Warrior leaned to the side to avoid it and all the others that were fired at her. "Damn, I can't attack like this!"

Thetis made another series of signs before twin whirlpools rose from the water. In the sky above Mask swerved around them before diving down towards the boat.

"I don't think so!" Thetis cackled before spitting out several jets of water, most of which managed to pierce Mask's glider. Withal he landed in the boat and pinned Thetis down by slamming an arm onto her throat.

"You won't mind if I take these off your hands will you?" he said as he snatched up the duffels she managed to bring before propelling himself into the air.

"Get back here!" she shouted, the whirlpools around them moving wilder now.

As she watched Mask fly off with the bags Venus detached herself from the boat, sinking under the water soon after. "Looks like I'm ending this." She attached her disc halves together before hurling it into the sky. "Venus' Raining Shot of Love!"

Savage streaks of orange energy ripped out of the sky and into the water, tearing apart Thetis' boat. Thetis's scream could be heard all the way to the shore as she sunk under the water with the chunks of her boat.

After a minute of wading in the water Venus spotted Mask flying overheard. The thief swooped down and gathered her up from the water, flying low back to the dock. Once they relocated to the roof where he stashed the jewels they waited patiently for the police to arrive.

While Mask examined the diamonds they managed to retrieve Venus watched the lake water and the police boats that were zooming across its surface. Several headed in towards where the boat chunks were floating, others searching the surrounding water for Thetis.

"See anything you like?" Venus asked as she nudged Mask, almost causing him to drop the duffel. "You know if you want to take a few for yourself, I wouldn't tell." she teased.

"Funny as always, Venus." Mask said before zipping up the bag and dumping it into her lap. "But there's nothing in there worth keeping."

"Since when are diamonds not worth anything?" Venus replied with thought.

"It's not there..." Mask muttered, his eyes cast on the moon's reflection.

Venus raised her brows in curiosity. "Looking for something in particular?"

Mask shook his head before he rose to his feet. "Make sure the gems get back into the right hands, I'll see you around."

"Yeah." The heroine nodded to him before he leapt off the roof, reappearing a moment later as the wind carried his glider upwards.

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty One**  
**

* * *

Next, Nephrite comes up with a way to find the identities of the Warriors and his plan to drain energy from a young girl begins. When the Warriors are faced with a catch 22, both choices resulting in the loss of a child, Luna makes an unexpected move that proves beneficial to them, what is this power she holds? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Twenty Two - ****Of Crystals and Dolls**


	22. Of Crystals and Dolls

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about throughout the story.

**Note:** Thank you to ericaphoenix16, LoveInTheBattleField, avesiji, StaticLove21, BelieveInUs, and DonovanX for reviewing.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Two - Of Crystals and Dolls**

* * *

As per usual for an arcade after school, the Game Center Crown was packed. By Motoki's guess almost every kid in the neighborhood must have just gotten their allowance. As the day went by he watched the arcade fill up with screaming kids and at around four o'clock, a blonde with pigtails.

Usagi froze in the doorway, the room was alive with bodies dashing across the floor, chasing each other with their toy swords and wrapping their friends up in their tickets. "Why is it so packed in here?!" she squawked, nearly having to leap through the aisles to avoid stepping on someone.

"Heh, hey Usagi. I guess you're not the only one who likes to relax after school." Motoki offered.

"At least I have a reason to relax, school is murder. These little pipsqueaks have it easy!" she said.

Motoki shrugged and nodded, he knew even better than Usagi just how tough school can get. "Can't argue with that."

"I wanted the other girls to come with me, but it doesn't look like there are any open games even for just one person..."

"I'm sure one will open up soon." Motoki offered with a smile. "Until then, do you mind if I ask you something?"

Usagi's face lit up with a new kind of interest, she heard a serious tone in his voice she'd never heard before. "Sure, what's up?"

"It's Mako." he admitted, his eyes drifting to the counter. "I think she's getting the wrong impression."

"About you two?"

Motoki regarded her with a nod before sighing.

"So, what's the _right_ impression?"

Motoki winced, maybe talking to this with her best friend wasn't such a good idea. "She's great and all, but she's really too young for me to be dating. I already kind of have a girlfriend too."

Usagi's eyes bulged and she slammed her hands onto the counter in suprise. "Wha?! A girlfriend?"

"Eww! Girls!" A boy running around the arcade shouted. "Cooties!"

"Yes, a girlfriend, her name's Reika." Motoki replied and motioned for her to keep her voice down.

"Well, how come I've never met Reika?"

"Maybe because he doesn't want you in his business, dumpling head." Mamoru emerged from a door on the left, running his hands through a white paper towel.

"Ugh, you're here..." she groaned, turning her back on him.

"Mamo's met Reika, but she's always pretty busy with her work, she's an archeologist and travels a lot for different digs."

"Oh... I'm guessing you want me to tell Mako this, huh?"

"Could you, please?" Motoki begged.

Usagi gave him a shrug and sigh. "I suppose so... I just wish you would have been honest with her from the start! She really likes you."

Mamoru shook his head before tossing the towel into a nearby trashcan. "Give the guy a break, dumpling."

Usagi rolled her eyes, and then her neck around to Mamoru. "Of course you agree with him, tell me how's Rei?"

Mamoru was taken aback by the question and threw his hands up defensively. "Wait, that's different."

"Uh huh sure, it seems like most of the guys around here are all the same. Well, at least I still have Tuxedo Mask."

"T – Tuxedo Mask?" Mamoru asked curiously. "You like him?"

"Of course! What's not to like?" Usagi said dreamily as she started to sway. In her mind she was running through a field of flowers towards him, arms spread wide. "We're like soul mates, I feel like we're so close to each other!"

Mamoru snorted before rolling his eyes around to the clock on the wall. "You're closer than you think..."

"Did you say something?"

"I said, the Sailor V game, there's an open seat." He lied and gestured to one abandoned arcade game with an open stool.

"Score!" she cried and dashed across the room to claim the seat as hers.

Mamoru exhaled in relief once the girl was out of earshot. "Now that she's gone, Moto-"

Motoki held a hand into his face, cutting him off before he went any further. "I already told you Mamo, the answer is no. I can't help you fix your curtains."

"C'mon, why not? You're good at that girl stuff."

"Girl stuff huh?" Motoki asked with raise eyebrows before ducked under the counter, coming back up with a spray bottle and a rag. "Like this?"

"Oh c'mon, you know what I meant." Mamoru said.

Motoki sighed as he started to wipe down the counter. "Yeah, yeah, I know." he replied, he knew no disrespect was meant to come of it. "I can't help anyway." Motoki looked around the arcade. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm working... I didn't even know you had any black and red curtains."

Mamoru rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I only use them on special occasions... I really need them fixed."

Motoki swung the rag over his shoulder before gesturing to Usagi. "Makoto says Usagi takes a home-economics class in school, I bet she could sew a couple patches into your curtains."

"Looks like dumpling is my only hope... Well here goes nothing." he sighed as he sauntered over to Usagi.

She hadn't noticed him approaching, she was too busy fist pumping for beating a level in the Sailor V game.

"Usagi." he said.

"Whoa yes! Blast 'em V, B-L-A-S-T THEM!" Usagi cheered.

"Usagi." he said a bit louder. "Usagi! DUMPLING HEAD TURN AROUND!"

Usagi flinched and jolted in her seat, craning her neck around to face Mamoru. "Who do you think you're yelling at jerk face!" She shot up from her seat and jabbed a finger into his chest. "You're gonna pop a blood vessel yelling like that, but maybe that's what you deserve for yelling at me! What do you want anyway?!"

Mamoru stepped back before he straightened his jacket and coughed into his hand. "I heard you take a sewing class in school, I need a favor..." he muttered.

"I'm sorry, wah?" she cupped her ear.

"I need a favor!" he replied, bawling up his fists and shouting at her.

"From me?" she asked curiously. "Well, what-do-you-know. Mr. Cool needs my help."

"Don't make a big deal about it, I need something fixed, can you help me for not?"

Crossing her arms she sneered at him. "Depends on what it is."

"A – curtain in my apartment got torn, I'd like it to be fixed. I heard you take a sewing class in school."

Usagi winced at that, she wasn't good at sewing anything considering most of her time in that class was spent sleeping. "I don't know, I can't -" she paused, something registering in her mind. "Heheheh, Rei would be so totally jealous if she knew I was at Mamoru's apartment!" she muttered.

"What'd you say?" he asked impatiently.

"I said I can't think of anything else I'd rather do with my afternoon!" she exclaimed and linked arms with him. "So, where do you live? Is it on the way to the Hikawa Temple?"

* * *

Zoisite and Nephrite waited in the darkness of Beryl's chamber, she currently had an audience of several of their workers, including Tsuna who acted as the speaker. Over the sound of the grumbling that came from the hoard of Youma lounging around her chamber, the Shitennou men could make out bits of the information Tsuna was relaying. Something along the lines of a princess making a trip to Japan by the end of the month.

As the team of scientists and workers filed out of the chamber Zoisite cast several of them dangerous looks, finding joy in their startled expressions and how easy they scared.

Zoisite smirked as one of the men darted into the hallway after he lunged for him. "They fear me."

After rolling his eyes Nephrite cast his gaze on a hole in the hall. In the cracks of the splintered stone he could see specks of dried blood from a worker Zoisite had killed this morning. "I wonder why."

"Come Nephrite, Zoisite." Beryl's voice came from the other side of the darkness.

Zoisite smiled pleasantly as he followed after Nephrite, the latter wanting to reach Beryl first. "Tell me again, why are you visiting Beryl?"

"She requested my presence. Why are _you _visiting her?"

"I have business of my own with her." Zoisite replied in a cheerful.

"The only business you have is being in mine."

"Thank you both for coming."

The men paused before reaching her throne, knees and knuckles pressed to the ground in a bow. "I've never heard you thank us, is everything alright?" Nephrite asked before standing.

Suddenly a small light burst to life, casting dim shadows everywhere. The source was Beryl's orb, glowing a pale blue and illuminating her expressionless face.

Beryl sighed. "Everything is not alright, I grow tried of waiting Nephrite." she replied, folding her hands into her lap. Her eyes moved to the orb.

"Energy?"

Within the orb appeared Rui Saionji, dashing back and forth across a tennis court. Although she wasn't familiar with current human activities she assumed Rui was putting all she had into sprinting across the court and hitting the little green ball over the net. "Compared to Jadeite's efforts your intake of energy is more sporadic, however it yields a greater profit. I'm curious to know about your next victim, as well as one that seems to still be alive."

Nephrite nodded in understanding. "Tensuni reported to me this morning that Rui's energy is unstable, that it rises and falls, not yet hitting its peak. However she will remain with the girl until that time comes when she can be drained. Rest assured, I will not fail."

Beryl paused, taking the chance to analyze his response. "I trust you won't, but one more thing must be discussed and that is the presence of the Cosmic Warriors. Jadeite's word that he knew of their identities was a lie... The duty to find them now lies with you Nephrite, so why are we no closer to finding their identities?"

"He's been too busy setting up these elaborate traps to gather energy and leaves the Warriors as an afterthought, with no idea how to deal with them when they arrive." Zoisite mocked with an effeminate wave of the hand.

Nephrite narrowed his eyes and flared his nostrils. "I've been working on a plan for some time now. Working my way into the heart of a young girl."

Beryl nodded slightly. "Continue."

"When the Warriors appear, this girl, Osaka Naru, she is often in the nearby area."

Beryl nodded again, bringing her laced fingers to her face. "And you believe she has a connection to them?"

"It's as good a bet as any my Queen." Nephrite offered with some reluctance.

"I'm not fond of bets, Nephrite." Beryl said calmly, looking weary.

"My Queen, if I may." Zoisite said as he stepped forward. "Allow me to capture the Warriors. While Nephrite targets humans the Warriors are bound to come, if I am present I can dedicate my efforts to catching them."

"No!" Nephrite bayed. "I work alone!" He had told Beryl this numerous times, but with Zoisite a millennia of no was not enough.

Beryl shifted in her seat and exhaled, looking somewhat deflated. "Your desire for independence is frustratingly admirable." she said dryly. "I will give you your freedom to act alone, but I will not wait forever."

"If Nephrite doesn't want me in the field with him that's fine. We have other options, what about our little pet?" Zoisite asked mischievously. "The fire-haired Protector."

Beryl's eyes drifted to her orb, in it appeared the image of Jarilo – chained and bloodied – in the dungeons of her lair. "As expected he is uncooperative to say the least. He seems to have a charm affixed to his mind that doesn't allow for dark magic to affect his memory or thoughts either."

"Perhaps he needs more _convincing_." Zoisite sneered, cracking his knuckles. Torture was something he thoroughly enjoyed, even more when it was being done on a male he himself had captured.

"Do as you please to him," Beryl waved him off. "however the longer was keep him the higher the risk we run of being discovered here. If he refuses to reveal any information soon, kill him."

"Yes, my Queen." Zoisite smiled wickedly and with a gust of wind his body vanished from the chamber.

"I'll be taking my leave as well." Nephrite bowed before his form seeped through the floor, leaving Beryl to her darkness and the murmur of waiting Youma.

* * *

While Mamoru lounged on his couch as he watched Usagi thread a needle on the floor. She'd pricked herself several times before managing to get the thread through, only to have it slip back out a moment later. "Thanks again for doing this for me, dumpling head."

"If I'm helping you the least you can do if use my name, U-SA-GI." Usagi replied as she prepared a couple of patches he gave her. "What kind of curtain is this anyway?" she asked as she held it up. "It looks like a cape..."

"You want something to drink, Usagi? Mamoru asked, avoiding her question as he hopped up and moved towards the kitchen. "How about tea?"

"Sure, that'd be great." she mumbled as she flattened out the fabric on the floor, placing the patches over it where the torn holes were. "Some of these aren't even the right size!" she groaned as she tossed a few patches that were too small to the side. "Where did he say he got them from...?" Usagi muttered as she glanced around, her eyes landing on a small closet door. "There!"

She hopped up and darted over to the closet and began rummaging around inside for a box Mamoru said Makoto had given him for repairs.

"Box, box, box, where are you?" she sang, tossing shoes aside until she found a black box laying on the floor. "Maybe this is it."

To her disappointment when she opened it all she found were stacks of polaroids and large printed photographs. Taking out a stack of the smaller photos she plopped back onto her behind and began to look through them.

They started off all the same, a young man standing against a yellow wall. As she continued to look through them they began to change, the first was the boy no longer had a shirt. After several photos like that the boy turned around and after that he no longer had pants.

Usagi felt like an invisible pair of eyes were watching her every move now. Heat rushed to her head and the feeling that she was doing something shouldn't was scratching at the back of her neck. The more photos she looked through, expecting the underwear to be taken away at some point as well. But when she reached the bottom of the stack the pictures were all the same, the boy standing against the wall in underwear, the photos being taken from different angles, profiles and portraits.

Suddenly she was reminded of a show Makoto made her watch once about pedophiles and the souvenirs they take of their victims, one common one being photos. "Ohmygod... Did – did _he _take these?!" Usagi gasped at the thought of it.

Leaning back she watched Mamoru busy himself in the kitchen, searching through cabinets for cups. After running her soft finger pads over the sharp polaroid edges she slowly turned the stack over, looking on the backs for something, and she found it. Scrawled on the back of several photos was: _MC 17yo_.

"M – C..." Usagi muttered before she looked over the pictures again. The boy seemed to be of average height with short dark hair and familiar smile – no – smirk. "No way." she stated before she tossed down the polaroids and grabbed the stack of larger photos.

She made quick work of looking through them, again all of the same boy. But this stack seemed to have been done by a professional. The photos were printed on special paper and seemed to be well done with captions at the bottom. Like they were taken straight from a magazine.

"_Chiba Mamoru, a young and up-incoming model started working at the age of 16 for small time print ads before moving on underwear modeling at the age of-_" she read aloud, trying hard to suppress her laughter.

"No way are these... Mamoru!" she cackled, looking through the stack before glancing to the polaroids. Sure enough the boy in the polaroids was the same as in the professional shots, only a bit younger. "Hmm, I guess what's written on the back at his initials... I can't believe he was a model."

"Dumpling head, what are you doing?!" Mamoru barked.

Usagi jolted and tossed the photos into the closet before grabbing another box. "Uh! I was just looking for that box Makoto gave you. Found it!" she hopped and showed him the box she had grabbed. "I needed more patches!"

"Dumpling, wait!" Mamoru started, wanting to snatch the box from her hands but unable to do so thanks to the tray with teacups on it clutched in his hands.

Usagi opened the lid of the box and froze at the what lay inside. A white masquerade mask, a top hat and a tuxedo. The eyes she felt on her vanished, replaced by a gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach. An indescribable feeling of confusion weighed down on her, settling itself into the dips in her shoulders. "What is all this?" she asked she poked around in the box, pulling out a small black and white staff. "This looks like... Tuxedo Mask"

Mamoru's heart beat quickened as Usagi's eyes moved to the tattered cape that lay on the floor before her blue orbs moved up to him. "...Mamoru?"

"No use hiding it anymore..." With a sigh he set down the tray and took the box from her. "This is Tuxedo Mask's costume... I bought it from the costume store last week, but the cape got ripped and I needed it repaired. I was too embarrassed to say it in public, that's why I told you it was curtain."

"Tuxedo Mask... costume?" Usagi asked dimly.

"Yeah, you know, for Halloween." Mamoru added and daringly lifted the mask to his face. "I thought it'd be cool to go as him, even if I don't look anything like him."

"Uh, I didn't know we celebrated Halloween, that's an American thing..."

"It's starting to become a little popular over here you know. Would you mind not telling anyone about the costume? He already has so many fans, I wouldn't want anyone to steal my idea."

"Uh, sure." she muttered.

"Thanks." Mamoru said as he passed her and stuffed the box back into the closest. Inside he pulled out another box from a shelf and pulled out a stack of patches. "Here, these were what you were looking for, right?"

Usagi took them with a slow nod of the head before she went back to work.

* * *

Hours later after putting her rudimentary sewing skills to the test and being treated to ice cream for a "job well-done", Usagi was glad to be home. She fell back against the door and let her bag slip from her hand to the floor.

"I'm beat... and I still have homework to do." Usagi muttered as she fell back against the door, letting her bag slip out of her fingers to the floor.

Rapid footsteps from upstairs caught her attention and soon after Shingo appeared at the top of the steps. "Finally, you're home!"

"Uh, what's up Shingo?"

"It's Mika." the young boy replied, trotting down the steps. "She didn't come to school today, and she didn't come back to class after what happened yesterday."

Usagi could practically see the depression weighing down on him. "Maybe she was just really upset her doll got broken, I'm sure she'll be back at school tomorrow." she assured with a smile.

"Boy, I sure hope you're right..." Shingo replied and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his black jacket, one with a familiar design on the front. "I really want to talk to her to apologize, do you think we can go visit her?"

Usagi's tired eyes narrowed at the jacket's front as she approached her brother. "What are you wearing?"

Shingo raised a skeptical eyebrow before he thew his arms out to the side. "It's called a jacket, idiot."

"I know that!" she snapped and grabbed the bottom of the jacket, stretching it out to get a better look at what it was. The design on the front was unmistakable, the iron-on designs were done to resemble the front of a tuxedo with a vest and bow tie. "Why are you wearing a tuxedo jacket...?"

"Oh, it's cool huh?" Shingo snickered before flipping up his hood and pulling it down to cover his face. The back of the hood had a white mask-like design on it. "Dad bought it for me!"

"Tuxedo Mask... He really is popular now."

"Yup! There's tons of things you can buy to look like him. I wanted a hat like his, but dad couldn't find any." Shingo said with a hint of disappointment in his voice as he took his hood off.

Usagi narrowed her eyes again. "Wait, tons of things you can buy? Like his costume?"

"Yeah, it's not like he is dresses like Superman or anything, you could probably find all his things at the mall!"

"Maybe he was telling the truth..." Usagi thought as she watched Shingo admire his jacket.

"Hey, you didn't answer my question!" Shingo shouted with a stomp of his foot.

The echo shook her out of her own thoughts. "Oh, I'm sorry, what did you ask?"

"I asked if we could we go see Mika? Geez dummy, you're acting more lame than usual today." Shingo mocked and headed towards the door, slipping into his sneakers.

"Do we have to?" Usagi whined. "I just got home..."

"Hey!" Shingo snapped. "It was your idea to have me stand up to my friends, and 'cause of that Mika's doll got broken, so this is really your fault."

Usagi gasped. "How dare you blame me!" She reached out to grab the boy but he zipped out of the door before she had a hand on him.

After walking for nearly twenty minutes the Tsukino siblings had gone a few blocks and were coming up on the Kiyama house.

"The sky is getting weird, is it supposed to rain today?" Shingo turned his head upward to look at the changing gradient. The pinks and oranges that filled the sky when they left home had been replaced with dull blues, purples, and black.

Usagi shook her head and held out her hand, expecting to feel a rain drop. "I hope not, I left my umbrella at home..."

"Heheh, its gonna suck to be you then." Shingo sniggered as he flipped his hood up.

Usagi frowned as they continued on down the sidewalk, glancing up at a sky. The darkness overtaking the lights in the sky and seemed to be coming from one spot in particular. "Is Mika's house close?"

Shingo zipped up his jacket and nodded. "It's just down the road." he pointed ahead of them.

Usagi's eyes shifted from the sky to nearby houses, most all looked the same. A variation of yellow or beige made up their sidings and all had similar dark rooftops. "I wonder if she's home..." Her eyes darted back to the sky, the center of the darkness wasn't too far off. Looking at it gave her a cold feeling, like frozen hands scratching at her skin, clawing for her. "If we get caught in the rain and have to walk back I'm going to be so upset!" Usagi droned on about the rain, but Shingo cut in.

"You spoke too soon." Shingo cast a sly grin towards his sister as he listened to the soft patter of rain against the sidewalk.

Usagi simply flailed her arms and whined. "I hate the rain!"

"Well come on. Mika's house isn't far, we can stay there until the rain lets up." Shingo said, nodding in the direction of the house while Usagi's eyes were focused elsewhere.

As if she was deaf to all Shingo had said Usagi stepped off the sidewalk, mindful of cars and darted across the street.

"Where are you going dummy?" Shingo shouted once Usagi reached the other side and disappeared behind a building.

When he managed to find her she was pressed against the large window of a diner, hand to her ear, seemingly speaking to herself.

"Are you okay?" Shingo asked as he pushed his way into the building, into the long waiting area outside the dining lounge.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Usagi said, sliding her hand into her skirt pocket. "I just didn't want to get rained on."

Shingo gave a short shake of the head before narrowing his eyes at her. "So you run off instead of just heading to Mika's house?"

"Heh, well since we're here, how about a bite to eat?" Usagi offered, pulling her purse from her pocket. "My treat."

Shingo's eyes lit up with the promise of a free meal and gladly accepted. "I guess Mika can wait a bit longer."

Usagi smiled and got them a table near the door, ordering a burger for Shingo and a shake for herself. While they ate Usagi kept her eyes on her drink, swirling around the foam with her straw, occasionally glancing out the window to check the rain.

Between bites Shingo noticed something at the door and dropped his burger. "What are they doing here?"

Usagi's ears perked up. "Hm?" she turned in her seat and smiled seeing familiar faces coming through the door, Makoto, Minako, and Luna. "They're here!"

"When did you call them?" Shingo groaned falling back against his seat.

"Stay here." she said before she slid out of her seat and dashed towards the entrance to greet them.

"Hey Usagi. What's up? Your call sounded urgent." Makoto said leaning against the wall adjacent to the door.

"I saw something." Usagi said as looked back towards Shingo who seemed to have forgotten about them already.

"Like?"

"Like something evil." Usagi continued as she moved past Makoto and to the exit. "Look over there." she moved aside as the rest of the girls followed her outside and pointed towards the sky. Towards the area above where the darkness was thickest. The rain had stopped a short while ago, but the sky hadn't completely cleared.

"A dark cloud..." Luna said with thought.

"It feels, evil." Usagi said. "Like the kind we saw in Rhode Island, the one those Youma came from."

Luna narrowed her eyes towards the sky. "Were you just out and stumbled upon it?"

"Shingo and I were heading in that direction to visit a friend of his, I think the dark spot is near their house, if not above it exactly."

"Sounds like Warrior business." Minako said happily.

Usagi stepped away from the building and looked through the window. "What about Shingo?"

"I'll take care of him." Luna offered, heading back inside. "You girls meet me at the end of the block."

As Shingo considered finishing off the rest of Usagi's milkshake Luna appeared at his side. "Hey kid."

Shingo hummed and looked Luna up and down. "Yeah?"

"Usagi and I are heading off for a bit, but we'll be back." Luna dug into her pocket, pulling forth a wad of cash that she leafed through before tossing a few bills down in front of him. "Order whatever you want, but don't leave the diner, okay?"

"Wait, I -" Shingo started but paused as Luna dropped another bill down to the collection of twenties already there. "I guess I hang out here for a bit."

"Good." she ruffled his hair before darting out of the lounge.

* * *

The girls approached the door apprehensively, or what was left of it.

Where the front door to the Kayama house should have been there only stood a punctured slab of wood. Riddled with holes large enough to fit a human body through it could hardly be called a door any longer.

Luna moved in closer and pushed on its remainder, making a way for the Warriors who filed inside.

"Whoa." Moon spoke and her response about summed up how each of them would have described the interior.

What they assumed was once a beautiful home looked as if a war had happened inside. The entrance hall, with white walls and wood floors, was scratched from top to bottom and marred with holes that looked as if cannonballs had blown through.

The living room to their left was in a similar condition, long gashes tore through the carpets and across the ceiling. Display cases stacked against the walls had fallen over, spreading glasses across the room and the ones that remained standing had their glass blown out and the contents inside blasted apart.

"What could have done something like this...?" Jupiter asked as she crouched and fingered through a pile of debris, finding several chunks of shattered porcelain.

Venus surveyed the destruction for herself as she entered through a walkway on the other side of the room. "The first floor seems to be clear."

"Then that leaves the second floor, let's hurry and hope we're not too late." Luna said as he shuffled towards the staircase, giving a hand signal for the Warriors to follow.

In formation the girls made their way upstairs, Luna stepped into the landing strip first and cleared the hallway before the Warriors followed. After poking their heads in and out of rooms the girls cleared almost every room upstairs before stopping at the room with its door shut and a light visible from under the door.

"I sense, something on the other side." Luna said with her hand flat against the door. Through it a pulse, not unlike a heart beat, could be felt.

Closing her eyes allowed Luna to perceive what was on the other side. Her mind's eye showed her a wide space - the room - and inside two figures and around them an ocean of energy. In that ocean, like rocks dropping into the water, ripples formed and through the ripple came another figure. Luna stood there for a moment as more and more figures began to fill the room.

"What's inside?" Moon asked, clutching her lance warily, her eyes darting back and forth between Luna and the door.

After taking a step back Luna's rapier appeared in her hands. "People, or things, and there are more coming each second." she said.

"Let's bring the hurt!" Jupiter shouted, smashing her fist into her palm. In an instant electricity covered her leg and she kicked down the door, storming inside a moment later.

"When did you all get so brave...?" Luna asked herself as she stepped in behind Venus.

"Ma'am!" Moon said, dropping the floor and crawling towards a woman laying sprawled out on the floor. "Are you okay?"

"Twelve o'clock." Venus said, bringing everyone's attention to a young girl, no older than seven or eight, in the room. She sat facing them in a chair the far wall, floating around her were pieces of wood formed into different shapes. Some were cylindrical, some like rectangles, and a few others almost triangle-like.

"Little girl, can you tell us what happened downstairs?" Jupiter asked as she approached her cautiously, noticing energy seeping off the girl. The blue ethereal light seemed to lift off her skin before turning a murky brown and then a black colour that was gathering near the ceiling.

"Be careful Warriors, I fear that little girl is more than that at the moment." Luna warned.

"Are you Mika?" Moon asked, holding the woman she guessed was Mika's mother in her arms. "Mika, what happened?"

"I'm not Mika, not anymore." she said before she rose from the chair, extending her limbs out towards the walls. The wooden pieces suspended in the air then came to life, shooting towards her.

Instantly Jupiter clapped her hands together, index and middle fingers pointed outwards as a streak of lightning ran down the digits and fired at one of the wooden pieces, throwing it off course. "I don't think so!"

Mika's demeanour instantly changed, her flat line of a mouth twisted into a snarl. Wrinkles and lines riddled her skin as her expression became almost demonic.

The pieces of wood soon attacked her body, cylindrical pieces slipping over her arms and legs, digging and cutting into her flesh until they appeared secured in place. Two of the triangular pieces split down the middle, trapping Mika body inside before they closed again. Another piece clamped down around the girls head as the remainder fit themselves onto her feet and hands, encasing the girl in a shell, leaving her looking like a small wooden puppet, or doll.

"What is that...?" Moon asked as she pulled Mrs. Kayama into the hallway. "What is that on her body?"

What followed caused all of the girls to flinch and cover their ears in hopes to block out the sound. The sound of flesh ripping apart and bones snapping as the wooden pieces grew longer, to the size that would be appropriate for an adult. The pieces latching onto Mika tugged on her skin until it tore apart, sending trickles of blood down the wood.

The girl's bones broke, bent, and twisted out of their sockets to move according to the wooden doll's joints.

The Warriors stared uneasily at the creature as several human features began to appear on its mask, eyes, a mouth, and the shape of a nose. From the top of the helmet piece sprouted ratty strands of blue hair completed the look.

"Jumeau... wants to play!"

* * *

"And here, is your apple pie." a waitress said sweetly to a wide-eyed Shingo.

He shot up in his seat, picking up his fork again before he began to dig into the newest dish he had ordered. Looking around the table he had lost count of how many dishes he had ordered since Luna left him there. But he was sure the bills she'd left him would cover it, at least he hoped so.

As he started cutting into the slice of a pie something shiny and red caught his attention outside. A car, a sports car from the look of it, was parked on the other side of the street.

"Isn't that - Naru...?" he asked to himself, scooting over in the booth towards the window.

Sure enough sitting in the passenger seat was Naru, looking rather bored with her hand supporting her head. Standing on the other side of the car was a man Shingo couldn't recognize, but if he had to guess it was Naru's dad, they both had thick wavy hair.

Without giving them much more thought Shingo returned to his dessert all the while perusing the menu for something else he could order.

* * *

A noise akin to a high pressure bomb emitted from the Kayama home before an explosion blew off the back of the house. Debris and smoke filled the backyard and three girls in coloured suits emerged from the smoke, crouching on the yard with their weapons at the ready.

Leaping out of the house Luna rebounded off a swing set in the yard and then onto the roof, the lady of the house safely in her arms.

"Come and play!" the Youma Jumeau shouted and extended a hand towards the Warriors. At her finger tips small circular spaces opened from which flew dozens of long needles.

Lunging ahead of the others, Jupiter took the lead. The green suited Warrior clapped her hands together before spreading her arms wide, an arc of electricity flying out towards the needles that disrupted their flight path.

Displeased Jumeau watched the needles spin around in the air before they fell harmlessly into the ground. "More!" she shouted, extending her other hand towards them and sending a similar attack their way.

Repeating her movements Jupiter deflected the second wave of needles and behind her Moon and Venus prepared their own attacks.

"Aim for her directly, and I'll get her from above." Venus said, her disc appearing her hands, already glowing a bright orange.

Moon nodded and dashed forward, past Jupiter, stopping short of the yard of needles and swung up to Jumeau. "Moon Blade Slash!"

The familiar wave of energy spiraled towards Jumeau whose hands clamped down onto the sides. After just a moment of struggle the rotation of the disc had stopped.

"She caught it! Like Jadeite did!" Moon shouted, preparing another attack.

"I wanna see her catch these!" Venus said with arms raised upwards. The sky above had darkened, the only light now coming from her spinning disc that was leaving light trails like whips in the sky. "Raining Shot of Love!" Making her hands into claws Venus dropped her arms and in response the whips of light came crashing down, all aimed for Jumeau.

"Heh!" the wooden woman scoffed before evading the attacks. "Too slow!"

Venus winced before extending her index finger and a single whip of light changed its course, ricocheting off the air and heading back for Jumeau. "No offence Moon, mine may be slower, but I have better control!" Moving her fingers in a meticulously pattern each of the whips of light had gathered again, all around Jumeau covering nearly each direction she could turn to evade.

Jumeau's wooden mask cracked as she sneered towards the Warriors before her head turned all the way around, her deadly glare fixing onto Luna.

The woman extended a hand which her rapier appeared in. "I'll turn you into firewood if you come any closer."

"I'm already close!" a voice under Luna cackled.

Turning her attention to Mrs. Kayama Luna gasped seeing the woman's skin turn a dark, but pale, brown. The sound of wood hitting against itself and cogs like in a machine overwhelmed her hearing as the body turned into another wooden doll like Jumeau.

"This little girl and her mother fell victim to me long ago!" the original Jumeau shouted.

"What the-?" Luna stumbled back, trying to put distance between her and the doll but slipped on the slick roof. The second doll lunged for her, wrapping around her body, and a bladed arm crossed her throat.

"Call off your attack orange beast before I tear out her throat!" Jumeau said.

Moon glanced back to Venus who was struggling with what to do, but ultimately dropped her hands, the lights surrounding Jumeau fading a moment later.

"Let her go!" Jupiter shouted. "Or I'll blast you both!" Jupiter crossed her arms and prepared energy for her strongest attack. Distant thunder roared above and the clouds thickened.

"I don't think you will, is her life worth the life of this little girl, or her mother?" Jumeau said as her face split and pulled back, revealing Mika within looking half-dead already.

"We'll just have to pry her out of there, then we'll turn you into firewood!" Jupiter said.

"I'll do the chopping myself." Moon added, charging her lance again.

A split appeared down the center of each of the Jumeau's chests, revealing Mika and her mother inside them respectively. "Kill us, and they die." they said. "We've already begun draining their energy, if we die so will they."

"Mika already looks dead..." Venus sighed. "Can we really save her, how do we know she's not bluffing?"

"Your friend there is part of the Silver Guard. Repairing bones and tissue should be no problem." Jumeau said, gesturing back to Luna.

"If you know who I am then tell me, who are you working under?" Luna shouted, wary of the blade touching her throat. "Who's order are you following?"

"You don't know?" The original Jumeau rotated her head around at her. "If you don't already know the name, why would I tell you something like that?"

"We've got to do something." Jupiter mumbled, only loud enough for the Warriors to hear.

"There's three of us and only two of them. One of us takes out the original, one of us gets Luna, and the other takes out the other doll!" Venus suggested.

"What about Mika and her mom?" Moon said as she looked towards Luna who seemed to try to be struggling to get free.

"We'll just have to take the risk." Venus answered, clenching her fist and operating her disc still floating in the sky, over the second doll. "I'll strike the second one, once Luna is free she'll be fine. Jupiter attack Jumeau and Moon provide support."

The Warriors nodded and a bolt of lightning touched down in the distance, thunder following just a second later.

Venus threw her hand out before quickly yanking it back, her disc split open - razors chains appearing - and flew towards the second doll.

Catching sight of the attack Luna ducked, avoiding the blade and allowed for the disc and chains to wrap around the body of the second doll.

"Savage Thunder!" Jupiter called as she jumped onto several objects in the background, all to get on the same level as Jumeau. Upon reaching her the Warrior bashed the doll in the chest with her fists, a streak of lightning following her attack and sending them both plummeting to the ground.

"Gah!" Luna cried as she lost her balance and rolled off the roof, into the waiting arms of Moon.

"I gotcha!"

Luna went wide eyed seeing Moon at her rescue. "Since when am I the one who needs saving..." she said.

"Hehehehe." Moon giggled before setting her down and watching Venus fly overhead, landing on the roof.

"Moon, get her!" Jupiter shouted, alerting Moon to the fact that Jumeau was charging for her.

"Right!" Moon crouched low, gathering energy in her lance before swinging at the doll. "Moon Blade Slash!"

Jumeau paused, thrusting her chest out and exposing Mika's chest as the target.

"NO!" Moon shouted.

"You don't play fair!" Jupiter barked before slammed into Jumeau, sending the woman flying into the yard next door.

Left to face Moon's attack on her own, Jupiter braced herself. "I've seen them do it before..." Daring to stop the attack Jupiter slammed her hands onto the side of the energy wave. The heat of the attack was instantly felt through her gauntlets.

Like gripping a hot pan the pain was nearly unbearable. Between waves of stinging pain Jupiter felt the pricks of the metal heating up, burning away her suit, and cooking her hands.

"Ahhh!" Jupiter cried. The disc wasn't stopping, only getting closer to her body. The heat spinning off the disc was slicing through her suit effortlessly and she'd nearly lost feeling in her hands. "If I die because of Moon's attack... I'll never live it down!" Jupiter gave off a roar of stubbornness as she forced her own energy into her hands and recalled some of their previous battles.

Against Experiment-D-U-D their energies had merged together perfectly, same with Jadeite, they had managed to merge their powers together without problem.

Although the feeling in her hands was gone now she strained her muscles and pushed harder against the whirling disc of energy, in her mind she could see it, Moon's energy. Like the attack, the energy was a disc, spinning too fast for her to keep up with. She saw her own, a jagged line, like lightning. Against Jadeite their energies had managed to work together, she had to do it now.

She knew things were different though, back then the attack was a straight beam of light. She could do straight, lightning was easy to control into that shape. But now... it was a circle, a disc, round.

_Shape the lightning. Curve the thunder. Mold my power... _

"RAHHHHHHHH!" Jupiter smashed her hands together, the disc of energy vanishing between her hands turning into specks of light fluttering around her. "Rolling Thunder!" Swinging her fist off to the side an invisible wave of energy blasted a groove into the yard, blowing a hole in the nearby fence. The attack continued on for several yards before its final damage was dealt to a house down the block.

"Ma - Jupiter?" Moon stammered. She was sure Jupiter was going to be sliced in half by her attack, but now...

"I'm okay..." Jupiter huffed, she wasn't okay. She hunched over for a breather and kept her eyes off her hands, she didn't even want to know.

"You. Are. So. Heavy!" Venus shouted as she reappeared from within the house, dragging the second doll with her, wrapped in her chains. "I got her, but I don't know how to get Mrs. Kayama out."

"You can't!" Jumeau roared in the distance before she appeared in the yard again. "I told you she's mine now! She is a part of me, as is her mother"

Luna's ears picked up the distinct sound of police sirens along with chatter coming from neighbouring homes about the noise behind made outside. "This isn't good. Warriors, we'll have unwanted company soon." she urged.

"Yes, run away Warriors and live to fight me again!" Jumeau cackled as she floated into the air.

"We can't let her take Mika!" Moon shouted, aiming her lance at her. "But what can we do?"

"Leave it to me..." Luna said with thought looking at her rapier. Standing, Luna held her weapon high before moving her arm in a wide circle around her. In the wake of her blade a thin golden outline of a circle remained.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

All eyes fell in Luna now, not because of a voluntary action, the sheer brilliance of the light that emerged from her simply summoned all of their attention.

Luna was surrounded by a golden light that radiated from her rapier blade, now taking the shape of a claymore. Beams of the light passed across the yard, bathing those present in rays as warm as ones from the sun. Small white dots emerged from the blade now that grew and soon the combination of the light was all the girls knew. It overwhelmed them, their eyes were blinded by its shine and knew nothing but the light in that moment.

In the distance, as if miles away, they heard something similar, a cry of pain, but through the light it was a cry for help, or salvation.

When the light cleared the girls were alone, Jumeau and her second doll had vanished, leaving behind the Kayama girls laying limp in their yard. The mother seemed unharmed, but young Mika had numerous cuts and dark spots riddling her limbs.

Moon glanced around, expecting Jumeau to attack from a hidden position at any moment. "Where'd she go?"

"Gone." Luna replied quickly as she picked up the Kayamas. "Venus, call the Guard and tell them what happened, call Artemis after and tell him about Jupiter's hands." Luna glanced back to the green suited Warrior. She had fallen over sometime before the light vanished and was pressing her hands into the cold grass. "Then go home immediately. Moon, get your brother and go home too, don't come out again today. Do you understand?"

"Uh, Luna what's wrong?" Moon asked.

"Do you understand?" she repeated sternly, hosting the mother over her shoulder.

The Warriors nodded and went to work doing as she asked. Jupiter staggered through the house and found something to wrap her hands while Venus informed the Guard of their location. With an uneasy feeling Moon reverted back into her civilian form and made quick work of reaching the diner where she found Shingo passed out, face first in chocolate cake.

* * *

An indescribable kind of laughter came from the darkness of Beryl's chamber. The Youma that normally gathered there were fearful of what it meant. Zoisite emerged before the throne and bowed low.

"My Queen, is - is something the matter?" he asked. "In all my years, I don't think I've ever heard you laugh in such a way."

And he hoped it was something he would never have to hear again. Beryl was standing, one hand holding onto the arm of her chair and the other clutched on her chest. She was bent backwards, almost unnaturally, and her mouth was open wide, from it came that unsettling cackle. Her body lurched with each wave of laugher that came from her before she snapped forward, catching her breath.

Tilting her head up she locked eyes with Zoisite who jolted back from fright at her expression. Beryl's normally expressionless mask had cracked, her corners of her mouth turned up into a menacing smile, her eyes slanted and full of life and burning with an intense fire.

"The Silver Crystal has been activated!"

Zoisite blinked curiously. "What?"

"FIND IT!" she bayed, lunging for him and wrapping a hand around his throat. "BRING IT TO ME! ALL OF YOU! FIND IT!" Releasing Zoisite, Beryl threw her arms into the air and the laughter began again, this time she was joined by the Youma in her chamber. Their eyes glowed a vibrant red as they lunged into the air, vanishing into whips of dark energy.

"I can feel it." Beryl said, clutching her chest again. "That dull pain, the Silver Crystal. The promise it holds, the power, it's light. Metalia's spirit... Nehellenia... Serenity..." She lunged for Zoisite again, causing the man to squeak in fear as Beryl's claw like hand nearly took hold of him. "Bring it to me!"

"Y-Yes my Q-Queen." Zoisite stammered as he scurried away on all fours out of her sight.

"Rise my warriors!" Beryl commanded and from the darkness emerged five pairs of eyes. Following that came the soft pat of bare feet on the stone floor. "The Crystal is active, we - I _must _have it. Find it, and bring it to me, kill anyone in your way!"

"Dear Queen, how are we supposed to find it?" came a feminine and almost sarcastic voice.

"The Black Onyx Crystal." another voice said.

"The thing Nephrite has been tinkering with?" a different voice asked.

Beryl turned to the eyes. "No, the Onyx Crystal is the true form of the Black Crystal, what Nephrite has is a mere knock off." Beryl placed a hand over her chest and held it there until a dull glow came from her bosom. As she pulled her hand away a small black crystal floated there. "Take it, it will lead you towards the Crystal."

An arm covered in red flesh reached out and the black crystal floated into its palm. "Don't worry, we'll find it."

Beryl nodded and retreated to her throne as the eyes vanished from her chamber, and with them the energies of her most trusted Youma.

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty Two

* * *

Next, the wedding dress contest is almost here and it's got everyone on edge. The Warriors take it upon themselves to investigate and with the help of Naru, a plan is formed. The newest threat from the Dark Kingdom appears again, what is his plan now? On the eve of the contest Makoto sees something she shouldn't, who can she tell? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Twenty Three - Skeleton Bells 1**


	23. Skeleton Bells 1

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about throughout the story.

**Note:** Thank you to ericaphoenix16, LoveInTheBattleField, avesiji, BelieveInUs, x3chibiusagi, DonovanX, and WeirdRaptor for reviewing.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Three - Skeleton Bells 1**

* * *

Usagi was no stranger to nightmares. She had plenty growing up, but none of them had been mentionable until the ones she had that started after Luna's arrival.

She was running. Through a city, by the feeling of pavement under her bare and sore feet. Cold wind whirled in her ears and caused her eyes to water. She clutched something small in her hand. She heard noises around her, the sound of feet hitting against pavement, lots of feet, other than her own. On top the footsteps she heard heavy breathing following her, and maniacal laughter.

She managed to shake herself from her dream, by following her mother's remembered being young and her mother coming into her room during a midnight storm, telling her all she needed to do to end a nightmare was to open her eyes.

So she did. Usagi opened her eyes wide, perhaps too dramatically and shot up in bed. She turned and retrieved her clock from its spot on her wall, it was barely past midnight. Pressing her back against the headboard she pulled her knees to her chest, her clock ticking away in her hand.

She was sure she was awake, but she could still hear laughter, as if the nightmare itself was mocking her attempt to escape it.

Deaf to it, Luna lay curled in a ball at the foot of her bed. She hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her yesterday after leaving the Kiyama house. She was already asleep when Luna returned.

To put her mind at ease Usagi slipped out of bed and moved over the window, the floor creaking under even her delicate steps. Brushing the curtains out of the way Usagi gave the street below a once over.

There didn't seem to be anyone outside, a few stray cats, but nothing out of the ordinary. But the laughter was still there.

She turned from the window but a familiar sound caught her attention. It was almost like the patter of rain on glass, but not. They were more like footsteps, fast and light on the pavement outside.

"What is it...?" Usagi narrowed her eyes, squinting to see something passing under a lamp across the street. Dark blurs dashed under the the streetlight, several of them in a row.

Usagi gasped as the laughter picked up again, same with the footsteps. The darkness below stopped her from seeing anything, but she guessed whatever was outside was in front of her house.

Her eyes strained to see anything below when a hand slapped against her window.

"Eeeh!" Usagi jolted back as the fingers spread out across her window.

Another hand appeared, sliding up across the glass followed by a bulbous head. Whatever it was, it wasn't human. It's oval head was a dirty brown colour, it lacked eyes and had a flat nose and a wide mouth.

Something about its mouth reminded her of Megumi, perhaps the way it stretched across its entire face. She imagined if it opened wide the skin around its lips might rip apart.

Usagi's eyes darted to the creatures hands, skeletal-like with skin pulled taut over the bone. Its fingertips all had thin slits on them that began twitching before they opened.

Usagi jolted back, nearly collapsing on her bed as ten small eyes laid their sights on her. Usagi bit down onto her lip to stop a cry in her throat. The eyes were moving now, rotating in their sockets, observing everything.

"L – Luna..." she muttered, reaching for the cat as the monster outside her window began to move again. It was crawling up the side of her house, and soon as fast as it had appeared it was gone.

She dared to press her ear against the glass, expecting to hear it moving against the house, but nothing was there. Even the patter of feet outside had vanished, so had the laughter.

"What was that...?" Usagi whispered, still looking around on the street.

"Usagi."

Usagi jumped at Luna's voice. "Y – Yes?"

Luna shifted on her pillow before curling up again. "Go back to sleep."

"Yeah – I'd love to." Usagi said quickly. "But, there was something – a lot of them – outside."

"That's nice..." Luna purred.

Usagi deadpanned before she crawled back into bed. "I'm serious Luna, there were monsters outside on the street!"

Luna let out an uninterested hum before swatting at Usagi with her tail.

Reluctantly, Usagi eased back into bed and gave sleeping a try. She woke several more time that night, dreaming of the same sounds, but each time she checked outside there was nothing there.

* * *

Hours later Usagi's class was enjoying a few extra minutes granted to them by Haruna being late. Most the room was chatting about why Haruna was a no-show, Makoto was begging Ami to come over after school and try one of her recipes. Umino was asking Naru to hang out later, with all the desperation of a man deprived of water.

Usagi sat at her desk, staring out the window, her mind replaying what she saw and heard last night. She eventually told Luna everything, but the woman offered nothing helpful and sent her off to school.

"Sorry I'm late!" said Haruna's shrill voice as she burst through the classroom door. "A street lamp outside my apartment fell down last night and blocked my car, I had to get a ride from my sister!"

"Is your car okay?" Makoto asked, turning away from and Ami.

Ms. Haruna nodded, dropping her bag onto the podium and pulling out a stack of papers. "Thankfully yes, a few scratches, but nothing too bad."

Usagi began to wonder if the things she saw last night had done damage around Haruna's house. After that her mind wandered to just how far those creatures had traveled before they vanished.

Haruna walked down the aisles of her classroom. "I'm passing back your tests from earlier this week, some of the grades were surprising, for a very good reason." she said as she placed a test marked with a B- face down on Usagi's desk. "Some were surprising for other reasons..." Haruna cast Ami a knowing look as she placed the girl's test down in front of her.

As Haruna continued to make her way down the aisles Usagi couldn't help but to marvel at her test grade, give the paper a few kisses and pat herself on the back.

"I'm awesome!" she cheered. "Hey Ami, how'd you do? Another A+?" she asked and leaned out of her seat, trying to catch a glimpse of the girl's grade.

Ami regarded her with a weak smile before she folded up the test and slipped it into her bag. "Congratulations on your grade Usagi, your mom will be really proud."

"I bet she will!" Usagi said, gazing over test again. "No way I'll ever get locked out again with grades like these!"

"We'll be starting ratios and probabilities next week, so be sure to read ahead in your book to get some of the basics down before we meet again on Monday." Ms. Haruna said to the class as she made her back to the front of the room.

Shortly after the bell rang and the students exited the classroom, their usual pre-weekend chatter filling the halls. Usagi stuck close to Ami and Naru until they found Makoto and the four girls headed out into the courtyard together.

"So Naru, what's been going on?" Makoto asked, swinging her bag over her shoulder as the girls crossed the yard.

Naru shrugged, a sly grin on her face. "Nothin'."

Usagi gave her a knowing look. "Nothing is never nothing with you, you're hiding something, so spill!"

Naru gave off a content sigh. "I'm just happy, really happy."

"I believe that." Ami said, noticing the smile spreading on Naru's face. "I can hear it in your voice."

"Is there any particular reason?" Makoto asked, determined to get Naru to spill the beans, one way or another.

Naru smirked and shook her shoulders, settling with something to tell her friends. "I've found someone, that I really like and I think it's getting pretty serious." she admitted, squealing in delight.

"Who is he?" Usagi gasped.

Naru bit her lip and shook her head, she told herself she wouldn't give out Masato's name, not to her friends at least.

"Is it someone in our class?" Makoto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh Naru, is it Umino?" Ami asked. "He told me he wanted to see a movie with you."

"No, it's not Umino. He's – not in our class."

Usagi began a mental check list of all the boys in their school and eliminated the ones she knew weren't Naru's type. "He's in our school though, right?"

Naru only gave her a sly smile as they reached the sidewalk.

"That's not fair Naru!" Usagi whined. "I wanna know his name!"

"Have we ever met him?" Makoto fired off another question, working through a list of her own.

"Yeah you have. I'll introduce you all when its the right time."

"How serious is it, Naru?" Ami asked.

"Well, I've been to his house and stayed the night..." Naru blushed.

"NARU!" the girls screeched.

"Please, calm down, calm down. Nothing happened..." she admitted. "It wasn't like that at all. He drove me to school the next morning."

"He drives?!" Usagi yelped. "How old is he?"

Naru rolled her eyes, mentally slapping herself for saying too much. "Well, I've got to go! The wedding dress contest is this weekend and there's still a lot left to get done." Naru said as she darted away from the girls. "You promised you'd stop by sometime Usagi, I'm holding you to that!"

"I will!" Usagi shouted as she waved to a disappearing Naru.

"Well, I should be heading off too." Ami said, stepping away from the girls. "Cram school, you know."

"See ya Ami." Makoto said, waving her off. She waited until Ami was across the street and out of sight before she turned her attention to Usagi. "Just me and you kid."

Usagi nodded and exhaled roughly. "What do you want to do?"

"Let's meet up with Mina," Makoto offered, digging her phone from her bag. "Only a half day of school tomorrow, we could have a girl's night."

"You'll have to put your girl's night on hold, we've got Warrior business."

The girls turned their heads upwards to see two cats scaling the stone wall outside their school, Luna and Artemis.

* * *

After contacting Minako the girls and their Protectors gathered outside Juuban Hall where masses of people had gathered in preparation for the wedding dress contest. Staking out in Artemis' car the girls watched many brides to be enter and exit the hall, as well as Naru and her mother.

"Well, I told Naru I'd stop by..." Usagi joked. "What are we doing here anyway?"

"Before you girls headed off to America Rei got a call from Naru about some strange noises here in the Hall." Luna answered. "As a precaution, Ilargi did a scan of the property."

"And?" Makoto asked.

"She picked up numerous energy signals, over a hundred to be more accurate."

"A hundred?" Usagi asked skeptically. "Naru said she was there after hours, wouldn't she notice a hundred people in the building with her?"

"Well, what if they weren't people?" Minako asked, her eyes following a few boys across the street. "Could have been animals, or something..."

"What they were isn't the most pressing matter. Usagi said it, if there were a large number of anything in the building, Naru would have noticed. So the question is, where were they?"

Usagi bit her lip and tapped her chin. "Naru said she heard things in the wall."

"So, in the foundation then." Makoto guessed, her eyes scanning the building itself. Double story with tall white walls and a sunroof.

"Maybe even under it. A building like that is sure to have a basement." Artemis said, with his hands draped over the steering wheel.

"So, what's our job?" Usagi asked. "It'll be too hard to find anything with all of these people around."

"Maybe we can come back tonight? This can't take all day, we can come back when the Hall closes and check everything." Makoto offered.

Luna shook her head. "Too risky. If something is here and we let it go someone could die today."

"Then we have to act now." Makoto said opening the door and swinging her legs out. The others followed suit and gathered against Artemis' car, watching the entrance to the Hall.

"Minako, you're great with large crowds, so you'll take care of the first floor." Artemis said. "Usagi, take the second floor, should be less of a crowd."

"Are you saying _I _am not capable of acting cooly and sophisticated in a large group?" Usagi scoffed, haughtiness brimming in her voice. After a series of reassuring looks she gave up. "Alright, second floor it is..."

"Mako, check the grounds and if you have time the surrounding buildings. Ask about any strange activity or suspicious people hanging around."

Makoto nodded. "Got it, so what will you two be doing?"

"Scans of energy levels." Luna said. "Anything that isn't human gives off a specific signal that is easy to trace. We'll double check all the areas you girls check as well as anything else we find suspicious."

"Let's meet back at the car in two hours to report our findings." Artemis said. "But if you find something pressing before then, call."

After agreeing on their jobs the group spread out. With a boost from Makoto, Usagi entered the second story through a window and began her search immediately. Minako made small talk with several of the brides, congratulating them on their nuptials and asking for the designer of their dresses.

* * *

A solid hour had passed and Luna was wandering down the alleyway beside the Hall. In her feline form she was able to sneak in and out of the buildings nearby without detection.

Luna pulled her paw off the side of a stone wall. "Nothing supernatural about the foundation itself..." she sighed. "But I can feel it; three figures moving through the building. But each time I get a lock on their location, they slip out of my grasp."

_Like wisps of smoke?_

"Yes." Luna spoke to a voice she heard.

_What's wrong Luna...? Is something breaking your concentration?_

"I don't know." Luna replied to the voice in the back of her mind. "So many things to think about."

_You'll have to focus if you want to save her, if you want to stop us._

"I know." Luna said before something clicked. "Us?" Luna whipped her head around, scanning the alleyway. The voice speaking to her, wasn't coming from her mind, it was forcing itself _into_ her mind. Before she could get a lock on anything a fist thrust itself into her side.

The cat spiraled down the alley, skidding across the pavement before coming to stop. A hand behind her took hold of the scruff at the back of her neck and yanked her off the ground. She hissed before another hand clamped around her throat. As quickly as the second appeared the first vanished and she was forced back against a wall.

Before her was a man, one with a androgynous features and a face framed by strawberry blonde hair.

"Who are you?!" she managed to hiss.

"Poor kitty, can't even remember my face?" Zoisite said, his civilian clothes vanishing into black flames, replaced by his grey general uniform.

Luna's eyes with wide with realization, and shock. "You!" Luna snarled before she vanished behind a flash of light. Her small feline legs turned long as they curled up and smashed into Zoisite's face, kicking him away. Luna flipped over, landing crouched on the ground in her human form, in the buff. "Why are you here?"

"Heh." Zoisite adjusted his jaw. "You should cover up Luna, that's no way to appear in public. I'm also not too fond of the female body"

"Unless you plan on lending me your jacket, shut it!" Luna snapped, her rapier appearing.

Zoisite smirked before slowly undoing each button on his jacket, slipping it off and tossing it to her. "Unlike Jadeite, I have standards when it comes to battle."

Luna sneered at him before she thrust her arms into his jacket that stopped just below her hips. "A real gentleman."

"I'd offer you my pants but." Zoisite said with another smile.

"Spinta!" the flick of Luna's wrist was followed by a pale blue light that forced Zoisite onto the opposite wall. In a flash Luna jabbed the tip of her rapier against his neck. "Tell me, why are you here?"

"We've got an investment growing here, and I'd hate for you to ruin it."

"We?"

A long pole arm weapon equipped with a large blade in the shape monk's spade at one end, and a heavy ball at the other end appeared in the sky. The latter end of it smashed down onto the spot Luna had been standing in. An afterimage of her body faded as she reappeared a few feet away.

"What kind of investment?!" Luna rasped, her attention turning to the sky, to a man descending from it.

"You're as quick as ever Luna." Nephrite smiled, grabbing the pole arm, the shaft of which was several inches thick. "How are you?"

"Been better, I'm not much for these kind of reunions." Luna raised into a standing position. "I'll say it again, what kind of investment?"

"The kind that involves sucking a human body dry of its life force." Nephrite answered, yanking his weapon out of the crater it made on impact. Holding it beside him Luna could see it was taller than his own body, bigger than she remembered.

"A soul release."

"You've heard of them?" Nephrite asked, truly surprised. "Beryl is quite fond of them, she believes they make excellent torture techniques. I myself have only been able to do it one, successfully. But then again, even the incomplete releases are profitable."

"The boy, in Rhode Island..." Luna muttered.

"Precisely." Nephrite growled. "But you won't interfere with what we have planned here." he and Zoisite levitated off the ground before flying higher. "So long, Luna."

"Nephrite!"

The woman lunged skyward, arms flying limply behind her as she headed for the general. In the closing distance she could see both of the men make a single hand gesture. Zoisite vanished, his body turning into quivering waves of light leaving Nephrite behind.

Opting to avoid a possible attack Luna flipped over, her feet meeting with the building for a second before she leapt off. Flying across the gap between structures she avoided a fierce gust of wind slamming down from the sky. After hitting the wall Luna latched her hands onto the roof edge and flipped onto it. Wasting no time Luna lunged back across the gap towards the waiting man.

Instinctively Nephrite crossed his arms to create a guard for her incoming kick.

Anticipating his block Luna pushed hard against his arms before flipping overhead and landing several feet away.

Zoisite appeared now on the roof and wasted no time in charging in while Luna came to her feet. Dashing left and right the man left behind blurred after-images as he crossed towards her. Throwing her arms behind her Luna followed suit, zigzagging across the roof at him.

"Take this!" Luna flipped over, pushing herself forward with her hands to send a kick in his direction.

Zoisite blocked, as Nephrite had, and began a series of parries to block the woman's barrage of kicks and punches. Although she had an unorthodox style of fighting, her way of twisting and flipping amidst her attacks wasn't something he would be done in by.

Once Luna paused to regain her footing she was put on defense by a few of Zoisite's own blows before he rebounded back several yards. After forming another hand sign Zoisite vanished as a gust of wind carved into the rooftop.

Dodging the attack, Luna's mind went to work right away, first noting which way the wind had blown, indicating the direction Nephrite was.

Right.

The woman's eyes darted in that direction to find heating ducts and exhaust fans, dashing across them was a dull grey blur.

As Nephrite's full form came into view, dashing towards her across the roof, Luna dipped her foot into the collection of gravel on the foot, flicking it up in his direction.

"Nice try!" Covering his eyes from the dust cloud Nephrite continued his dash towards her.

With a smirk Luna clapped her hands together before raising them above her head, moving them as if she were hurling something invisible. Through the clouds came her rapier, covered by a thick blue energy, that whizzed through the air towards Nephrite.

"Hmph." he snorted before he paused and leapt through the air, his leg extended as he came down. With him came a gust of wind powerful enough to slice through the rooftop on its path towards Luna.

As she'd done before to avoid his wind attack, Luna leapt towards the roof across from them.

Rising to his feet from his split position landing Nephrite applauded. "I must say I'm impressed, being able to fight so well naked. I'm truly impressed. You always were a rare and talented fighter, even as an division leader for the Moon Kingdom.

"You should see me in my uniform." Luna sneered.

"I'd like that, it's been too long." Nephrite smirked before lowering into a battle stance. Raising his fists above his head Nephrite let out an almost inhuman roar before he slammed his fists down. The impact shook both rooftops and sent another wave of wind in Luna's direction.

Cartwheeling out of the way Luna slipped off the roof, her feet never leaving the building though. Without pause the woman defied gravity as she ran around down the wall before dashing across the alley and back up the opposite wall, charging for Nephrite.

Nephrite's preparation for another hand sign was broken as Luna appeared in front of him, her powerful fist beaming him in the chest. Gripping his shoulders Luna's flipped over him, landing a few feet away.

Luna groaned as she lunged for the man, her arms snaking around his waist as they flew off the roof, quickly plummeting to the ground below.

As they fell the two struggled for dominance, Luna quickly coming out on top as she locked her legs under Nephrite's arms and her own arms around his waist. As they continued to fall Luna flipped their position, making sure Nephrite's head would be the first thing to hit the ground.

As they reached the bottom she snapped her eyes shut, listening to the sound of Nephrite's head breaking through concrete and bones shattering. Luna released him and bounded back, his legs flopping over limply.

Unimpressed she scanned the rooftops and the rest of the alley. "C'mon you two, if beating you was that easy-"

Zoisite's snigger rang out through the alley, though his body was no where in sight. Nephrite's corpse vanished before Luna like a mirage and his real body appeared a moment later, twirling his pole arm.

Wasting no time in attacking Nephrite leapt into the air, stopping his weapon rotation once the ball was out for attacking. Coming down he smashed the ball onto the pavement, cracking it in front of Luna.

The woman flipped back and caught a twinge of Zoisite's energy signal approaching from behind. Flipping back again she threw herself into the air, her hand landing on Zoisite's shoulder as he stabbed forward.

"Dammit." he swore as Luna balanced on his shoulder, Nephrite's jacket falling up around her shoulders. "

Digging her hand into his shoulder Luna swung her body down, slamming her knees into Zoisite's back hard enough to hear something crack.

"Nimble as ever." Nephrite commented as Zoisite vanished again.

"Mau spend a large chunk of their lives in their feline forms, that has a great advantage in our battle tactics." Luna playfully growled before charging at him.

She'd battled Nephrite numerous times in the past, too many to count. She had the speed and even though her attacking strength was impressive, Nephrite's defense was too strong. He could take just about anything, but she knew if he got in maybe even just one hit she might not be able to carry on.

Trying again for a dropkick Luna was met with his arm block. Flipping over it she gripped his shoulder and tried the same move she used on Zoisite. Her knees slammed into his back, but his pole arm was now fixed between her legs.

Slamming his hand down onto the front of his weapon, the pole arm acted like a seesaw and sent Luna flying.

Flipping over in mid-air she watched Nephrite propel himself towards her before swinging the weapon, a gust of wind following it. Unable to get out of his path Luna braced herself, being thrown higher up by the blast.

"Let's see if cats really do land on their feet!" Zoisite hissed from behind her.

Heat rushed to Luna's head as she whipped around to see Zoisite's upper body hovering above her. He quickly brought his elbow down onto the center of her back and sent her plummeting down.

Below she caught a glimpse of Nephrite lunging for her again and planned on throwing her body around to land on a roof. That plan was yanked away as a blur of green snatched her out of the sky, landing safety on one of the roofs below.

"Warrior Jupiter." Luna said, in awe at the girl as she set her down.

"At your service!" Jupiter replied before she dashed to the roof edge. "Who are these clowns?"

"We're the bad guys." Zoisite said appearing in the sky beside Nephrite. "We're here to do bad stuff."

"Then I guess it means we're here to stop you!" Venus shouted, rebounding off the walls before she reached Jupiter. "Sit back Luna, we'll take care of them!"

"Two on two." Nephrite said, twirling his weapon around so the blade end was ahead of him. "I like those odds, but we still won't lose." Holding the weapon like a javelin Nephrite hurled it down towards the Warriors.

Jupiter and Venus prepared to dodge before a flash of light erupted between the buildings and slammed into the pole arm, throwing it off course.

"How about three on two?" Warrior Moon shouted from below. She dashed towards the first wall and tried to mimic Venus' rebounding trick, nearly making it but came up short on the last jump. As she fell below the roof edge Jupiter reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her up. "Whew, thanks Jupiter."

"You guys." Venus whispered. "The girly one," she gestured to Zoisite. Compared to Nephrite's confident stance with his weapon now at his side, Zoisite's cross-legged and hunched stance was far less intimidating. "he's the same one from the Wonder Show."

"The one with Loki!" Jupiter said, slamming her fist into her palm.

"Ahh yes, Loki!" Zoisite shouted, overhearing the girl. "How could I forget about him?" Digging into his uniform pocket Zoisite pulled forth a black gem. "Let's even the odds." Zoisite sneered before crushing the gem in his hand and tossing it down towards the Warriors.

Its trail of smoke accumulated in front of the Warriors before a silver blade slashed out of it. Following the blade Loki appeared, clad in his dark armor. "Hello, humans!"

Coming from nowhere Luna appeared on Loki's right and slammed a fist into his cheek, sending the Experiment flying off the roof. "You better bring some more muscle if you want it to be fair!"

"LUNA! Where are your pants?" Venus screeched as the jacket she wore flared up.

"We'll deal with that later, worry about yourself for right now." Luna said, crouching.

"Uh okay, but I'm not the one going commando on the battlefield."

From within Nephrite's jacket he pulled out a purple gem and eyed it. "I had hoped to save you for the event tomorrow, but it seems our friends want to play now. Warrior Moon, you might enjoy this one!" Crushing the gem and letting it drop a purple cloud of smoke exploded onto the edge of the roof.

* * *

Inside Juuban Hall Naru was adjusting and reorganizing dessert trays when a twinge of fear cut through her mind. Her hands jerked and knocked over one of the trays, sending an assortment of finger food desserts onto the floor. The silver tray clattered on the floor as well, alerting those in the area.

"Naru, honey are you alright?" Mayumi asked, quickly taking hold of her daughter, noticing how pale she had gone. "Honey?"

Naru's skin went cold and all the heat in his body rush to her head as a feeling she hadn't experienced in over a month came rushing back. Pure terror. "I'm – I'm..." Naru paused her mouth went dry and her breathing hitched. "He's here!" she screeched.

Mayumi jolted and spun Naru around. "Baby, who's here?"

"Him!" Naru shouted, clutching her mom. "Mommy!" Naru buried her head into her mother's chest and Mayumi glanced around the room, they were getting more attention than the brides to be and attracting a crowd.

"Honey, it's okay, who's here? What's happening?"

Naru shook her head rapidly, her hands jittering and cold. "Please, don't let take me!"

* * *

"Warrior, I am pleased to see you again." From the cloud emerged a man's body, covered in a muscle hugging grey jumpsuit. On his back Moon could make out two sword hilts and in his hands two spears, one gold, the other crimson.

As he freed himself from the smoke Moon narrowed her eyes at the unforgettable features of her first enemy, the man who raped Naru.

"Experiment-D-U-D, kill the brat of the Moon!" Nephrite commanded and D-U-D took action.

Crossing his spears he lunged for Moon who blocked the thick bottom of her lance. She pushed back against him, roaring in the process and turned to dash off across the rooftop. D-U-D smiled before chasing after her.

"Well, she's got her guy. And I have a score to settle with Loki for treating me like a punching bag." Venus said, her heart disc appearing in her hand as she charged a recovering Loki.

Luna stood up and eyed the two remaining enemies. "Jupiter, take Nephrite. He's strong, but so are you and I know you can take his attacks. Plus, Zoisite is a master of illusionary dark magic, nothing to battle head-on without knowledge of and practice fighting against it."

"I understand." Jupiter said before crouching low. "Good luck." she then lunged up, using her energy to propel her to Nephrite.

"So, you have knowledge of my illusions do you?" Zoisite said as he appeared in his ethereal form behind Luna. "And you think knowledge will save you?"

"I know the danger being caught in one posses." she replied and turned to face the illusion itself.

"I can show you danger." Zoisite said before his body became corporeal. His eyes opened wide and the feeling of being slammed into overtook Luna.

Unsure of his move, Luna jumped back, nearing the edge, and summoned her weapon. With a small smile Zoisite took a few steps closer before his own weapon appeared, a katana. Holding it upside down he spoke a single word that Luna didn't hear before the weapon exploded.

The blade fragments turned into shrapnel that sliced through Luna's body. Blood shot from her mouth after each of the shards exited. She clutched her throat where one of them was lodged, while gurgling on her blood she attempted to dig it out. No matter how much she tried she couldn't seem to get a hold of the piece.

Something was in the way, her cartilage, vocal cords. A newfound determination took hold of her, she had to get rid of what was blocking the shard, she had to! The piece of the sword was right behind it, it had to be. If she could just get rid of it she'd be fine!

Clawing at her throat Luna began to tear away chunks of flesh, checking her hands every couple of seconds to see if she managed to get the sword piece. Eventually she grabbed hold of her vocal cords and began tugging. She could feel it, in her throat and the back of her mouth as she yanked her cords free.

The scenery around her then changed, she was off the rooftop and instead the galaxy was her backdrop. In her hand she was still holding a chunk of flesh, dripping with blood, but... it wasn't hers. She checked her throat, in fact, smooth, no blood.

Before her a small girl stood, hands clutched around her throat. "Why?" she asked and pointed to her hand. Luna's eyes darted between it and the girl, in the moment the girl was joined by dozens of kids all asking her the same thing.

"Why?" they asked as a choir.

Luna narrowed her eyes before she crushed the flesh in her hand. Blood sprayed from it and turned her sight red, like in a bad horror movie the blood seeped off her eyes and once it was gone she was back on the rooftop, uninjured.

"I told you, I have knowledge over your illusions, Zoisite." Luna said. "They're useless against me. They'll only work if you use them in tandem with someone else's attack."

"Maybe I should get a partner." Zoisite mused, tapping his chin.

"You have one, and Jupiter's about to kill him!"

The two smiled before lunging in for each other, up above thunder was rolling in. The two collided, Zoisite captured Luna's fist in his palms, their knees snapped up, meeting. "Speaking of partners, you took Jarilo didn't you?"

Zoisite's mouth turned into a wicked smile. "Miss him?"

* * *

After a series of attacks in mid-air Jupiter and Nephrite took their fight the roof opposite Luna and Zoisite. Jupiter was unrelenting in her attacks, but Nephrite evaded most of them, using his pole arm to block any that were too fast to dodge.

"You've got some good attacks, but how's your defense?" Nephrite said before swinging his weapon around, bringing the ball end down at her.

Jupiter jumped back, she watched how the weapon moved when it was at his side, how the bottom was always the heaviest. She knew the ball was too heavy to try and intercept.

"My defense is fine, how about yours'?" Jupiter threw one hand into the sky, a solitary lightning bolt striking it instantly before she threw the other out to Nephrite.

The general spun his weapon like a fan blade, diffusing the bolt and giving him time to her next attack.

Bringing her fists together Jupiter slammed them down onto the roof. "Savage Thunder!"

Nephrite listened to the rolling thunder above and watched lightning stitch through the clouds. Unwilling to find out what the attack did first hand, he hurled his pole arm up into the sky before charging Jupiter.

"So you're the Warrior of storms, it's been a while." Nephrite said as they started an exchange of blows.

"We've never met." Jupiter replied and blocked one of his kicks. She kept her arms tucked in at her sides to avoid any blows to the rib.

"We have, during the Silver Millennium."

"Then I guess it really has been a while. I hope you weren't always this weak." Jupiter mocked as she gained the upper hand and delivered a swift punch to his chest.

"Heh, you have no idea what I'm capable of." Nephrite swung his hand at her and the blade of his pole arm sliced trough the arm, nearly taking off Jupiter's arm.

"I'm scared." she replied, slamming her fists together and shooting a bolt of lightning at him.

"You and your Warriors should be. This is an old game girls, and you can barely remember the rules."

Sticking her index and pinky fingers up Jupiter crossed her arms over her chest. "How about we write some new ones then? Thunder!" A deafening roar of thunder overpowered Jupiter's voice before a strong bolt of lightning met with her gauntlets.

Nephrite swirled his pole arm around before he slammed the heavy ball end down, propelling himself towards Jupiter.

"RAH!" with a roar cry Jupiter threw her arms out wide, sending a dome of crackling electricity out around her.

* * *

Between the clash of lances Diarmuid and Moon were exchanging bits of conversations. "I thought i'd seen the last of you!" Moon grunted, pushing through his double lance guard.

Diarmuid chuckled before he flipped over sideways, slashing out at Moon. "I do not fight to harm you Warrior."

"Hmph!" Moon sidestepped his attack, swinging out at him with her own lance. "If you don't want to fight, then why are you?" Moon muttered her attack command under her breath and sent a disc of energy at him.

Crossing his lances Diarmuid deflected the attack, sending it flying up the side of the building.

"Nephrite has revived me and made some, additions, to this body." Twirling his crimson lance around Diarmuid jammed it into the concrete, throwing himself into the sky. "Dodge this Warrior!" Moving his entire body with his throw he hurled his remaining lance down at her.

Moon stood her ground and tilted her lance, allowing his weapons to collide with it and grind down until it embed itself into the ground. "What kind of additions? The kind that make you fight me?"

"Yes; but to honest with you, I am fighting you of my own free will." Diarmuid said as he landed on the roof above her, taking his swords free of their holster. "I am honored to cross blades with you again Warrior, that is the reason I fight now. However; if there is something I can do to assist you, I will. I despised being used by Jadeite, Nephrite is no better."

Moon huffed before slashing up at him as he descended the wall. "Nephrite said he was saving you for the event tomorrow, the wedding dress contest! Does that mean you know what he's up to?"

Diarmuid nodded as he pushed off the wall, flipping over onto the other side of the alley. "I do, but there's one problem." Diarmuid lunged for her, sword posed to stab. Moon turned her weapon on its side, blocking both blades. Leaning in closer to her Diarmuid dropped his jaw and let a wide pink tongue flap out.

Moon gawked at a series of black lines and circles that covered the length of the muscle. "A tattoo?"

"A seal, imprinted onto soldiers to stop them from revealing information about their leaders. If I try to tell you something Nephrite doesn't want known, the seal will stop my voice."

Moon nodded before throwing her lance up, knocking Diarmuid off his guard. Holding his swords under his arms Diarmuid flashed his hands, the same seal was there on his palms.

"Must be important if he's taking so many precautions." Moon dropped her weapon, taking in a deep breath. "Is there anything at all you can tell me?"

"A woman, the target is a woman."

"Well, considering its a wedding dress contest, I'm not surprised." Moon sighed. Diarmuid put his swords back and recalled his spears, but made no sign of attacking her. "Am I right in guessing he wants to collect energy from her."

Diarmuid stayed silent for a moment, before glancing to the sky. "Your energy Warrior, keep it alive. Keep it active as if we were still fighting, that is how Nephrite will know if we are in battle."

Moon nodded before doing as told.

"I can't say for sure, I only know I was remade in order to make Nephrite's job easier tomorrow."

"Who is Nephrite anyway?" Moon asked.

"He was once one of the four generals that protected the Earth, under the Prince. He now works as a Shitennou under Queen Beryl. You know who she is, don't you?"

"Somewhat, I've heard so many things it's hard to keep track."

"Queen Beryl, was once-" Diarmuid paused, his throat moved like he was swallowing but his face twisted into the expression of someone choking. "Hmm, it seems Nephrite doesn't want me revealing anything about the history of the Dark Kingdom either."

"I get it." Moon said, tilting her head skyward.

"I have a question Warrior."

"Yeah?"

"The girl, Naru. How is she?"

Moon stiffened. "She's alright, she's here." she said, nodding towards the building behind Diarmuid, the Hall. "She's helping with the contest."

"I can tell, I felt her energy when I arrived, she's frantic."

"Really?" Moon asked, furrowing her brow to try and focus on Naru's energy.

"You have to win this fight, for people like her." Diarmuid said, his lances vanishing into bursts of light. "It's also important you learn the whole truth about your past. In this war truth is the strongest offense."

Moon nodded, her lance vanishing as well. "I understand, thank you."

"Recall your lance." Diarmuid said, holding a hand over his heart. "And do me a favor, end my life, or at least the life of this body."

Moon furrowed her brow again and held her arm out, level with his chest. Her lance appeared again and Diarmuid lunged for it, impaling himself. Moon grunted, nearly buckling from the added weight.

Diarmuid sighed as the area around the wound turned black, breaking off into specks of black dust. "Farewell, Warrior. Unfortunately this parting won't last long."

Sending energy through her lance Usagi swung upwards, slicing through Diarmuid's shoulder, turning the man into a collection of black particles.

"Let's try this again!" Moon shouted as she charged the wall. Leaping onto it she quickly pushed off towards the opposite wall, rebounding off each before she landed with a roll on the rooftop. "Yes!" she rolled onto her feet, lance at the ready.

Standing In the center of the roof Luna and Zoisite stood still, in the distance on the next roof lightning streaks touched down while two figures collided in the air. Without the cover of buildings the biting cold wind smacked against Moon's body.

"Jupiter is brewing a storm." Moon said. Her attention to the battles around her was broken by footsteps in the alleyway and the murmur of voices. "It's gonna be nasty!" she shrieked.

"Who's up there?"

"Is It going to rain, my dress!"

"It's gonna storm!"

Moon peaked over the edge of the roof and saw at least twenty people standing below.

"Who is that?"

"Uh – oh." Moon said before heading across the rooftop. "Guys, we've got company! Of the civilian kind!"

Moon's voice snapped Zoisite and Luna from their illusion battle, their bodies leaping away from each other instantly. "You won?" Luna asked.

"Of course!"

"What a waste of time he was." Zoisite breathed, sweat dripping from his forehead. Controlling Luna in his illusion world and having to constantly keep her captured in it had taken its toll on him.

Nephrite leaped onto their roof, clutching Jupiter by her arm before he swung her around, sending her skidding across the rooftop. Jupiter rolled before popping up onto her feet.

"Looks like she did a number on you as well." Zoisite said, taking notice of the wound Nephrite was still nursing. "Loki!"

In response the Experiment appeared over the edge of the roof, slamming down onto the rooftop with a blood sword in his hands. "I'm here, master."

"Where's Venus?!" Moon cried, expecting her to jump up after Loki.

Loki straightened up and smiled. "She's down below." he gestured down behind him.

Moon's eyes widened before she dashed off across the roof. Loki smirked as he swung his sword around, bringing it down over Moon's back.

Behind her Moon heard Luna call out a spell and a blue light blasted Loki off the roof with her. The man smashed into the wall before sliding down and Moon tumbled down onto the street below. Venus lay there in a growing pool of blood, her suit material missing from her right arm.

"Venus!" Moon shouted, her hands jittering over her arm, trying to find the wound. "Are you okay, I mean..."

"I'm fine, but I can't feel my arm though..." Venus replied, trying to sit up with Moon's help.

Around them Luna and Jupiter appeared, the latter pinned down Loki while Luna scanned Venus' body. "She'll be alright, it looks like he severed the tendrils."

"Come Loki." Zoisite commanded from the roof edge. Loki's body vanished in quivering waves of smoke before he reappeared beside Nephrite. "We're done here Warriors!"

"If you want to stop us, you'd better bring your best tomorrow. You won't be able to save everyone if you don't."

"Wait!" Luna shouted, ready to fire another spell at them but the trio vanished before she could raise her rapier. Around her Zoisite's jacket vanished as well, in a quick flash of light Luna reverted to her feline form. "Dammit."

* * *

A stout man, dressed down in a black business suit climbed the staircase of an apartment complex. In his hands he carried a bouquet of roses with hint of baby's breath. A smile was plastered on his face as he hummed cheerful tone, on his way to see his soon to be wife.

Holding a briefcase under his arm he folded one arm behind his back, hiding the flowers before he knocked on the door. "Higure, are you home? It's me Genta, open up honey."

"Honey?" he tried knocking again, taking a step back and glancing at one of the windows. "Is everything okay? I noticed you won't pick up when I call, and none of my messages have been answered... Higure?"

The door then swung open, slamming against his forehead in the process and sending the man reeling back. "Ow..."

"What do you want?" Higure replied appearing before him, she leaned against the door, a displeased expression on her face.

"H – Higure?"

Sure enough the woman before him was the woman he planned to marry, but far different from how he last saw her. Her usual orange turtleneck sweater had been replaced by a black bra and a loose fitting green top, tied into a knot at her navel. The floor length dress she usually wore was gone, instead she stood before him in purple lace underwear.

Her hair was normally pulled back into a perfect bun, but was now wild, stopping short at her shoulders, ruffled and wild like she'd just rolled out of bed.

"New look?" he said with a gulp. "It's – nice. Here – I got these for you." Genta brandished the bouquet from behind his back but they were quickly slapped away.

"Why would I want some dried up flowers from you?!" Higure snapped, stomping down onto the roses before she kicked them towards the railing. "Why are you here?"

Genta frowned at the rejected flowers. "I just wanted to come and make sure you were alright, you-"

"I what?"

"You haven't been answering my calls..."

"If you hadn't noticed I have to walk down the aisle with you soon and because you're too cheap for a real honeymoon I have to enter this stupid contest and win!" Higure stepped out onto the balcony, causing Genta to step back. "Now leave me alone and let me finish my dress! Otherwise I'll leave you at the altar and escape to Hawaii and find someone more worth my time there!"

Genta flinched as if she was about to strike him and nodded.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Higure asked, retreating back into her apartment.

Genta blinked. "W – What?"

"LEAVE!" she howled, a second voice erupting from her throat and doubling over her own.

Genta had been all but frozen in his spot due to Higure's change, but her howl shook him from it. He scooped up the flowers and dashed off the balcony and down the fight of stairs.

"Pathetic..." Higure murmured before closing her door was Genta was out of sight.

"Is he gone?" a woman asked from inside the apartment.

Higure entered the largest room and nodded to the woman sitting beside her sewing table. "I sent him away, time to get back to work."

"Excellent." Widou said as she rose up and walked the length of the room. Higure sat down and started up her machine again.

Widou watched her before glancing around the room, cobwebs had taken refugee in every place imaginable and Higure paid them no mind. No mind to the family of spiders that marched her countertops, to the ones that crawled out of her hair and scurried across her fingers and face while she worked.

"Excellent."

* * *

Lately more than ever, it was rare for Saeko Mizuno to be home in the evening. Her shifts at the hospital seemed to be doubling, or even tripling lately. Ami thought about asking what the reason for her having to work so much was, but never got around to bringing it up. She might have brought it up tonight, but the silence was too overbearing, on top of that they were having such a nice night, she didn't want to take the chance and ruin it.

The two Mizuno women sat at opposite ends of their dining room table. Both of them sat with an arc of papers in front of them, Saeko's was mostly bills and forms from her job, Ami's consisted of homework sheets.

They had been sitting like this ever since dinner had ended, a few hours ago. The conversation had been scarce with a question coming from Saeko every 5 or 10 minutes, all revolving around school. Each time Ami tried to draw the question out, eventually stopping somewhere far off topic.

A disappointed hum from across the table alerted Ami to the fact her mom had run out of tea. Saeko stared down into her cup with a small frown before setting it down on the table.

Ami set her pencil down and eased out of her chair. "Would you like another glass?" she already pouring her another cup, but she knew better than to do so without asking.

Saeko turned her head towards her daughter smiled. "Thanks sweetheart."

Ami smiled in return before swapping the cups and returning to her seat. She scanned over the papers before finding the equation she'd stopped on.

Another taking a long drink Saeko hummed again, this time with a sense of urgency. "Mm, I forgot. Your algebra test, you were supposed to get it back today, how did you do?"

Ami stiffened, her head was down but her eyes instantly darted up in her mother's direction. This was why she'd be trailing off on all the questions before.

"Ami?" Saeko asked innocently.

Ami's smile twitched before she raised her head. "Yes, mom?"

Saeko smiled. "Your algebra test, did Ms. Haruna give it back today?"

"Um yes, she passed them back today. She said the grades were good, Usagi has really been improving, I guess all the work she puts in with Mako and myself is really paying off." Ami turned back to her work. "I wonder what Mako got..."

"That's good to hear," Saeko paused and took another drink. "so how did you do?"

Ami's mouth moved as if she had uttered a sentence in another language before she looked off to the side. "I don't remember, I barely glanced at it when she gave it to me." she replied with a laugh.

Saeko looked slightly offended. "You're always so eager to know your grades, and you just barely glanced at it this one time?"

A bead of sweat ran down Ami's forehead as her shield dropped. "Well, after getting so many A's I guess I just – lost interest this time."

"Oh, so you got an A?"

"Yes."

Saeko wet her lips before pursing them, narrowing her eyes at her daughter. "But you said you didn't remember."

Ami felt a wave of heat rush up her body.

"Did you get an A, or you don't remember?"

"I – uh – I don't really remember, but I'm guessing it's an A. I did a lot of studying for it, as always." Ami answered before looking back to her homework.

"Ami." Saeko said sternly. "What was the test grade?"

Again Ami's mouth moved as if she was going to start several sentences at once, but any excuse she thought about giving deflated under her mother's trained eyes. Ami was an only child, but her mother disciplined her as if she had raised an entire army of girls. Lying was no use against her, she had a no-nonsense policy as well.

"C." Ami muttered.

"I'm sorry?" Saeko said sweetly as she leaned in closer. "I didn't hear you."

"I got a C, mom." Ami said, her voice shaking.

"Oh, a C."

"It was really close to a B!" the secret was already out, all she could do now was sugar coat it. "And this test was two weeks ago, there have been lots of assignments since that will pretty much cover up

the grade."

Saeko nodded, her mouth turned down in the corners like she was accepting a deal for a used car. "That's not bad, I mean it's not your best. But you always do such good work a C won't really affect you right?"

"Right." Ami answered quickly.

"WRONG!" Saeko snapped.

Ami jolted in her seat, another wave of rush hitting her.

"You think that expensive medical school in Germany wants average students? That's what a C is Ami, AVERAGE!" Saeko shouted as she rose from her seat, tea cup clutched in her hand.

Ami shrunk down where she sat, her eyes darting between her mother progressing on her and the cup she held.

"I didn't raise you to be average! I raised you, trained you, to be the best! You're performance is a reflection of me, you know that don't you?! Am I average?"

Ami shook her head quickly, Saeko wasn't pleased and nearly roared at her, expecting a vocal response. "No, ma'am..." Ami felt a pain throbbing in her forehead and a burning feeling focusing in that area.

Saeko scoffed and shrugged, as if she was giving up and accepting a fate. "I can't believe this, I work night and day you bring you into this district, put you into a public school like you asked, get you into the Crystal Seminar, and this is what I get. A child that gets Cs."

"I don't get Cs." Ami responded without thinking.

"Oh really? Then what the fuck was your test grade!" Saeko barked, hurling her tea cup. The glass shattered on the table, shards of it slicing into Ami's cheek and hand while the piping hot liquid inside splashed over her papers, uniform, and face.

Ami screeched as she fanned herself with one hand, trying to cool the tea, and shook her top to keep the tea from touching her skin.

"I'm through, I'm done with you." Saeko threw her hands up in defeat, blind to the pain she had caused. "Bring home another C, I _dare _you, to bring another C into his home and I'll ship you off to live with your father!" Saeko snarled before she vanished from the dining room. "Clean up that mess!"

Ami sat, shuddering in her seat for several minutes. Each tick of the clock on the wall made her tense, she worried her mother would return and see she hadn't moved. She was too paralyzed by fear to notice the lines of blood running down her arm and on her chin.

Across the apartment she heard a door slam. She didn't know what was coming after it, but she leapt out of her seat regardless. The fear fading from her mind she regained her composure. She darted into the kitchen and grabbed a clean towel from a rack above the sink. She wiped the blood away and began dabbing around the wounds, rinsing them before she found the first aid kit.

After tending to her wounds she returned to the dining room and scooped up the broken cup before mopping up the tea and collection her mother's paperwork as well as her tea-soaked own.

She left her mother's work on a table in their living room before she dashed to her room, wary of crossing her mother's path, and collapsed against her door. Tears streamed down her face and the fits of crying racked her body as she fell to the floor.

Between sobs she inhaled and something nipped at her nose. She then shifted on the floor, feeling uncomfortable. The tea on her clothes had cooled and was no longer hot and heavy on her skin, an unnatural cold replaced that. But something else was bothering her. She moved her legs together, sure enough between them she felt a damp spot and realized where the stench was coming from. She'd soiled herself during her mother's rage.

Ami dropped her head back against her door as another wave of tears raced down her face.

* * *

Although it had been a warm day the evening was turning chilly and dreary. After she returned home from the Hall, Makoto decided not to spend the night alone. She left behind her cozy apartment, warm socks, one of her ex-boyfriend's old shirts in exchanged for yellow turtleneck and light green leggings with a green dress.

Taking leisurely steps down the sidewalk Makoto turned her head skyward, seeing Motoki's apartment building rising in the distance. A smile formed on her lips as she thought about him. They hadn't had plans on meeting, but it had been a few days since they'd last seen each other.

Dashing across the walkway outside she then made her way up one pair of stairs, both leading to the same balcony. She turned the corner and stepped up and rapped on the door. Her eyebrows raised as the door opened slightly.

"Motoki?" she asked before peeking around the door. Laying around a table in the center of the room was one body, a girls. She laid on her side, head propped up on her hand.

Makoto rocked on the balls of her feet, from inside the door she could hear soft music playing and someone singing through a radio. "Sounds romantic..." she whispered.

She listened to footsteps approaching the door and took a step back. Her smile widened only to fall a moment later as she was greeted by a clearly intoxicated Motoki.

"Okay, heheheheh, heyyyy Mako!" Motoki shouted, swinging the door back fully. "Reika, look, it's Mako!"

"What the hell is a mako?" the woman on the floor asked in an uninterested tone. Rolling over Makoto could see she had thick brown hair fixed messily into a bun with a few loose waves framing her face. The light purple off the shoulder dress she wore left little to the imagination. She topped it off with round light green earrings and a gold medal necklace.

"Uh, hey Motoki." Makoto said. Although she was pretty confused she was on her guard, this situation was almost familiar and she could tell she would leave here tonight upset or sad.

"Heeeyyy Ma-ko!"

The way he said her name irked her, like he mocking her. But she smiled through it nonetheless.

"This is Mako?!" Reika sang before she staggered to her feet. "Oh wow!" As she wobbled closer Makoto could see her makeup was misplaced across her face. Mascara had ran down her cheeks and dried and bright red lipstick was smeared in circle around her lips.

"This is Mako!" Motoki repeated, pointing to the girl. "So, so, Mako." Motoki said as he wobbled closer. "What brings you down?"

"More like, what brings you up?" Reika said, hanging off Motoki now. "Get it? 'Cause she came up the stairs to get here!" The two of them erupted in a drunken wheeze of a laugh before the woman reached out to Makoto. "You get it? Up?"

Makoto regarded her with a wide smile. "Yeah I get it." she answered quickly, dodging her claw of a hand. "And I just came by to see if you wanted to hang out Motoki. But I can see-"

"Oh! Didn't Usagi tell you?" Motoki said with the expression of a kid forced to leave a box of puppies outside a store. "We-can't-be-together." he continued with a goofy smile, hoping to make the news easier.

Makoto's expression fell flat. "We can't?"

"Noooo, we can't." Motoki breathed and wave of sake breath slapped Makoto. "See, I have a girlfriend. And her, her is... REIKA!" Motoki shouted with all the enthusiasm saved for game show hosts, to the woman to his left.

"Meeeeeeeeee!" Reika squealed before she did a small turn around.

Motoki sighed, frown wrinkles appearing on his forehead. "I guess – I guess Usagi didn't tell you..."

Makoto swallowed hard, she was sure her pride went down with it. "No, she didn't."

"Oi Mako, I'm so – so – sorry you had to find out, like this." Motoki said and reached out for her.

Makoto smiled before she slipped out of his range, letting Motoki stumble forward into the doorway before Reika latched onto the back of his shirt. "C'mon Moto, up-see-daisy..."

Makoto backed up. "No it's okay, I'm sorry for interrupting your night." Makoto said as Reika led Motoki back inside his apartment.

"It was nice meeting you Meko." Reika said.

Makoto grabbed the door and prepared to shut up once they were both inside. "It's Mako."

Reika looked back at her helplessly. "What's mako?"

Makoto mustered up the biggest smile she could before she slammed the door, the impact shaking the entire wall.

By the time the apartment building was out of sight Makoto had already cursed just about every male she knew to hell. "Stupid, selfish, drunk!" Makoto swore as she dug her phone from her pocket. "I should just switch to girls! At least they have the decency not to answer the door wasted with another woman!"

Makoto froze. "Wait... If I date women, that means they like women. SO THEY MIGHT STILL HAVE A GIRLFRIEND BEHIND MY BACK!" she roared, loud enough that the lights in a house across the street turned on. "I just can't win!"

* * *

The Game Center Crown was closed for the night, but that didn't stop three people from sneaking in and starting up all the games.

"C'mon guys, whoever gets the high score gets to face me in that!" Minako shouted and gestured to the virtual reality box. Ahead of her Gesi and Desi each sat hunched over the Sailor V arcade game. Both of them were mashing button and jiggling the control stick as if their life – not just their virtual one – depended on it.

"I can't get used to these damn controls!" the Gesi snapped.

Desi let out several displeased grunts as her Sailor V got blasted. "I don't like these games, I'm more of a racing simulator kind of girl..."

"You guys protect the world from evil on a daily basis and yet you can't even press a couple buttons." Minako shrugged. "The irony. I have one good arm and I could do better." Minako said, showing off her arm in a sling.

* * *

After scouting out Juuban Hall with Luna and the other Warriors, Usagi returned home with the Protector for some sleep. Instead of resting, Usagi ended up tossing and turning in her bed; flipping and flopping around for an hour, Nephrite's warning playing over in her ears.

After getting Venus out of the alley and finding a room in the Hall to recover the girls made a plan of action for the following day. Luna made several calls to the Guard, the Warriors were ensured they would have full support of the Guard for the contest.

Luna tried her best to make it all sound okay, but one question had been gnawing at her sense. Why would he show his face now, and what did he mean save everyone?

To put it out of her mind she tried counting sheep and even curling up with her algebra book, hoping something in it would help her to sleep. After a few minutes of mindlessly flipping through pages, she knew it was impossible.

The phone went off. Usagi rolled over in bed and slapped hand down onto it, scooping it up. "Hello?"

"Hey kid, you alright?" Artemis asked. Usagi hummed her response and Artemis laughed slow. "Luna and I are on our way over."

"What – no, that's -"

"We know your parents aren't home, we're on our way."

"Hmph." she clicked the phone off and opened her window for the cats to enter through. Slipping back into bed she waited patiently for them to arrive. Shingo was already in bed for the night and her parents had gone out with a few friends for dinner, a visit from Luna and Artemis wouldn't be too bad.

Twenty minutes past according to her phone's clock before she was fed up of waiting. She assumed they were joking about coming over and got up to close her window when the doorbell rang. Leaning out over the balcony she saw two figures down below.

Darting out of her room Usagi stormed down to the entrance and flung the door open, revealing Luna and Aretemis waiting with arms full of snacks and VHS tapes.

"Movie night?"

Althought all she really wanted was to go to bed Usagi ended up watching several movies. Although she enjoyed their company tonight was too weird for her. While she was stretched out on the couch the two of them sat beside each other on the floor. Usagi wasn't sure what was happening in the movie, she was far too preoccupied watching the two of them.

Every so often if something funny happened Luna would turn and giggle into Artemis' neck. If something touchy went down they leaned in closer and his hand would appear on her shoulder, rubbing slowly.

All of it was too real for Usagi to be comfortable with. Although she and Minako had guessed there was something between the two of them, watching it play out in front of her was too much.

Once the movie ended Artemis said his goodbyes and lingered around the house until Usagi disappeared upstairs. Several minutes later Luna joined her on her bed where they enjoyed some of Usagi's reserve junk food before bed.

While eating Usagi's eyes kept darting over to Luna, the woman caught her gaze and gave her back several questioning looks. "What?"

"What, what?" Usagi fired back.

"You keep looking at me, is there something on my face?" Luna asked and rubbing her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"I'm just curious."

"About what?"

"Umm..." Usagi hummed for a moment. She wanted Luna to think she was coming up with her question at random. "What was your life like before Earth?"

Luna mulled it over a second. "Well, I was born on the planet Mau and lived there for all of my life and eventually started making regular trips to the Moon where I became close friends to the Queen, then I-"

"Snore!" Usagi snapped. "Maybe I should have been more specific."

Luna raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you want from me exactly?"

"I wanna know about your love life!" Usagi blurted. "In particular, with a certain white-haired-man-named-Artemis." she sniggered.

Luna flushed before she shot up in bed. "Usagi! That is none of your business!"

"Oh, please! Come on! I see the way he looks at you, how you two act around each other!" Usagi said. "Minako told me some stuff, but I wanna know, did you guys ever date?"

"Go to bed Usagi, you've got school tomorrow and then Warrior duties immediately afterward!"

Usagi whined and hugged her pillow. "I wish I had somebody to love!"

* * *

"Good night ma!" Naru shouted as she blew her mom a kiss before she walked into her bedroom. She fastened her bathrobe, her hair was wrapped up in a towel and she was almost ready to turn in for the night. All the last minute preparations of the wedding contest tomorrow had her feeling stressed and a hot bubble bath was all she needed to relax.

She checked her clock, she still had a few minutes. She collapsed on her bed, she was tired, but staying up a little longer would be worth it, as always. Lifting her head she removed the towel and began to run her fingers through her hair.

After several minutes of pulling out tangles, a familiar sound came from the window. She grinned and turned, standing along the ledge of OSA-P was Masato.

A visit like this had become routine for them. She glanced to her clock 11:30, just like always. Her grin turned into a pleased smile before she rushed to the window, opened it and let the man in.

Masato reached out for her, but she pursed her lips and held a finger up to him, a signal to wait. Naru dashed across her room and peaked into the hallway.

Her mom's door was closed and no light was visible under it. She then closed her own door and turned only to have Masato be standing right behind her, waiting for her.

When his hand met her cheek her eyes closed slowly. She'd come to realize Masato was too intense for her, too much to take in all at once.

She couldn't look at him while he touched her, while he embraced her and his smell of burning herbs and spices overwhelmed her. Hearing his voice sent chills down her spine, a kiss set her soul on fire.

She didn't know what it was, but something had awakened inside her, something had changed and now he was all she thought about. She wanted to be with him, she wanted to be held, to hold, to touch and kiss, to _taste._

While Naru remained still, allowing Masato to caress her face, his eyes smoldered as he assessed her body.

In his lifetime he had been with numerous women, but something about Naru was different, she was unique to him. But even so, the pure quality he found within her was too strong to touch. She had assured him a few times it was okay to progress past kissing and touching, he couldn't bring himself to it.

The couple stayed in each others arms for a while, turning and moving across the room, dancing to a song that wasn't playing before Masato said his goodbyes.

"I'll see you tomorrow won't I?" asked Naur once Masato was halfway out of the window.

He smiled back to her, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Of course."

"Until then." Naru said a smile as Masato disappeared from her window. She clasped her hands together and sighed happily.

* * *

Usagi ran an ivory brush down across her hair, brushing out the golden locks that were released from their bun and pigtail style.

It took a while, but she managed to brush out the curls of her bangs as well, leaving them straight edged above her eyes. Her soft blue eyes glanced to the vanity mirror before her, to the man in the king sized bed behind her.

Blocks of moonlight illuminated their shared bedroom, for their anniversary night at least.

She set the brush down as she slid her small feet across the floor and she moved to the bed. Pressing her knees down onto it before she began to crawl over her newlywed husband. She slid her body down atop his, their skin creating little friction as she positioned herself on him.

Usagi pressed her ear down to his chest once she was in position, his heartbeat resonated through her body causing a slightly chill to race up her spine.

She jerked at the feeling and woke the slumbering man, Tuxedo Mask attempted to sit up, but soon abandoned that action once he realized he was being weighed down by the female. He dropped back down on the bed and lifted his head to watch her.

Usagi smiled gently before scooting forward and planting a gentle kiss on his lips. Mask lifted his hands to the back of her head, his fingers swimming through her blonde locks as he held her head still as he smiled back before returning the favor.

She smiled, kissing him again, cherishing the feeling of his lips. She snaked her hands up through his hair that seemed to be never ending.

The more she moved her hands, the more hair that seemed to encounter, and the wavier and thicker it became. She frowned feeling him push against her, she held on tight before someone called for her.

"USAGI!"

Usagi was shaken from her dream and the girl's eyes shot open to find a pair of equally blue eyes looking back. Luna's eyes. Usagi's face burned at the realization her hands were swimming through Luna's hair, their legs had become entangled, and their lips were touching.

"L-Luna?!" she whimpered, scooting back quickly. "GAH!" she shrieked as she reached the edge of the bed and slipped off.

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty Three

* * *

Next, the contest begins and things go bad quickly. The Warriors are stuck with the rash choice of a pre-emptive strike and are faced with numerous threats, all controlled by Nephrite. After being split up and having their numbers diminished how will the Warriors do? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Twenty Four - Skeleton Bells 2**


	24. Skeleton Bells 2

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about throughout the story.

**Note:** Thank you to ericaphoenix16, LoveInTheBattleField, DonovanX, avesiji, BelieveInUs, and StaticLove21 for reviewing. And thank you to CrispyWheat for following, and ASiriusWriter01 for following and adding this story to their favorites.

**Cosmic Warriors** has been added to the community _Sailor Moon Alternate Realities _(community/Sailor-Moon-Alternate-Realities/108871/ 3 /0/1/), created by WeirdRaptor. Celestial Warrior Moon as well as a few other stories like ours can be found there.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Four - Skeleton Bells 2**

* * *

At around noon the main laboratory in the Dark Kingdom was filled with people. Most were scientists and workers, going about their day to day duties; however, Nephrite was among them today. The man had just finished checking energy signals within a 100 foot radius of Juuban Hall and was now hacking into the security system. Behind him one of the infirmary workers was applying a new bandage to his wound.

Nephrite's eyes scanned over countless screens of encryption, numerous collections of binary codes, before he gained control over their entire system.

The dual monitors before him displayed a three dimensional floor plan of Juuban Hall. While Nephrite perused the schematics, in his mind he worked through the schedule for the contest.

The hands that were fixing his bandage began to wander, snaking their way into his hair and gliding down his bare back. Nephrite furrowed his brow before snatching up one of the hands. "That's enough, human." he gawked at the hand. It wasn't small like the woman's who had been tending to him earlier.

"Don't ruin my fun, Nephrite." Zoisite cooed, slipping free of his grasp and down into the chair beside him. "So, what are we looking at?"

"The layout for the Hall, I'm trying to find the best place to set up. Widou is waiting on my command." Nephrite said and jabbed one of the screens with his middle finger. "The meeting room is the largest, it'll allow us to gather the most energy."

"Set up what?" Zoisite raised a brow curiously. "I thought the teacher was your target."

"She is, she is the only priority. But Widou, she possesses special abilities that will allow us to drain energy from most, if not all, of the humans present. The Warriors and the Guard will also be there, the more victims the less time they'll have to deal with us and our real target."

"I see. How are you going to get the teacher alone to drain her?" Zoisite asked.

Nephrite smiled, for once Zoisite had been too busy to keep up with his ongoing plans and now the man was craving for information. "The winner of the contest will come with me to get their prize. I'll leave behind the rest of the crowd to gather her energy and leave Widou to launch part two."

"And what will I be doing?"

"Staying out of my way." Nephrite warned as he stood up. From the back of the chair he pulled off a shirt and jacket.

"Don't be so hostile, I can help. Won't Widou need someone to command her when it's time?" Zoisite asked, leaning back in the chair.

Nephrite shook his head after slipping his shirt on and thrust his arms through the jacket sleeves. "She knows after I take the teacher with me to begin. If you want to help keep the Guard off my ass."

Zoisite sighed, not pleased with being given such a basic task. "Why not use this opportunity to reveal the identities of the Warriors?" he offered. "I wouldn't mind ripping those masks off." he continued, stretching out his hand like a claw.

Nephrite adjusted his jacket before brandishing several gems from his pocket. "I already have plans for the Warriors. Besides, they're a small threat compared to the Guard, Loki also wounded one of them yesterday."

"You trust an Experiment with the duty of revealing their identity over me?"

Nephrite nodded before glancing across the room. "I would trust Tsuna to reveal their identities over you."

Zoisite scowled before he looked towards the doorway. Tsuna was entering the lab and being pushed around by his colleagues, causing him to drop a stack of papers in his arms.

Nephrite checked his watch and nodded to it.

"Am I keeping you from something?"

Nephrite smirked, Zoisite would dig for information until the world ended. "My astral goddesses said the woman's energy peaked shortly after seven this morning. The maximum amount of time her energy will stay there is twelve hours, so less than seven hours left to drain her."

"I see." Zoisite shifted in his seat and raised a hand to fan himself. "Is it hot in here?"

Nephrite deadpanned at him. "Is that supposed to be a joke?"

Zoisite rolled his eyes before standing. "No, I mean I feel warm. Human! Turn the heat down!" he barked, causing several workers in the lab to jump in alarm. "I need to get out of here. I'll see you at the Hall, Nephrite." he waved a hand over his head as he exited.

* * *

Watching hordes of women line up outside Juuban Hall the Warriors as well a few Protectors and Rei waited across the street.

After tossing around ideas on their plan of action Kalla finally expressed his displeasure with it. "I don't like the idea of us running in blind." he said, resting against the hood of Artemis' car. "Nephrite is a cocky bastard for showing himself so bluntly yesterday. Do we even know who their target is?" Kalla asked before lighting up a cigarette.

Usagi shook her head, pursing her lips. "I was only told that it was a woman."

"But, considering this is a wedding dress contest that doesn't help narrow it down." Makoto added.

Usagi nodded in agreement. Diarmuid's hint hadn't been too helpful, but she appreciated his help nevertheless.

Sitting in the backseat Rei glanced to Minako whose attention was focused on something on the other street. "Luna, you said he was going to execute a soul release." Rei sighed and leaned against the door, rubbing her forehead. "Granpda said it's a process that involves putting a demon spirit into a human body and it forms an unstable energy reaction. The human energy is added to the demon's and when it's extracted the human soul becomes like a bomb. Is that right?"

In the front seat Luna and Artemis shared a knowing look. "Yes, Nephrite's only been able to do one soul release in full, W.R. Droma from Rhode Island." Luna glanced into the side mirror, catching Minako's uneasy expression.

The blonde shifted, turning away from her window and looking towards Rei's. "All the other humans that were cursed, they were all failed attempts?" Artemis turned to her and nodded. "So a complete release, causes the body to explode like we saw at the school?"

"Sadly," Artemis said. "hence the bomb part. After the demon's energy is taken away the human soul begin starts ticking like a time bomb. The strength of the person's will determines how long until they, explode."

Makoto crouched down beside the car, resting her arms on Artemis' half-rolled down window. "When is the demon energy taken away?"

"When a human exerts themselves there are physical indicators, like sweat, increased heart rate, and adrenaline." Artemis said. "These are all blocked when infected by the demon, all the indicators build up inside the body, until the body can no longer take it. The indicators are transformed into ethereal light that begins to leak out of the body. That's when they'll be drained."

Makoto nodded, processing it all. "So someone who has been building up a lot of energy is the target?"

"Yes."

Usagi crouched down beside Makoto, noticing Luna's distraught expression. "This is wedding dress contest, the prize for which is a free trip to Hawaii. Every bride-to-be in this city is probably working her butt off to win!" she whined.

"But can you think of anyone who has been acting strange since the contest started?" Minako asked, leaning forward between the seats.

Usagi gasped as a name hit her. "My teacher! She's in the contest, it means a lot to her. You remember how she acted when Ami was handing out the flyers?" she asked to Makoto, slapping the girl on the arm.

"Yeah, she was really excited. She's getting married at the start of winter, this contest is perfect for her." Makoto said, recalling her teacher's appearance in school and how tired she had been looking.

Luna's eyes widened and she leaned across Artemis' lap to the girls. Artemis leaned back and his eyes opened wide in surprised. "Wait, Ami? Ami was handing out flyers?"

Usagi snapped her eyes shut and shook her head. "Luna, please don't."

"Usagi."

"Lalalalalalalal!" Usagi stuffed fingers into her ears to block Luna out. "Can't hear you, lalalala!

"Knock it off brat, that's annoying!" Kalla snapped.

"Dozens of women are here for the chance to win a once in a lifetime vacation, my favorite teacher is one of them! Nephrite is about to kill one of them, if not all and I can't deal with you saying Ami had something to do with it!"

Silence followed Usagi's shriek and Kalla flicked away his cigarette after a final drag. "Well, we've got a hunch."

Usagi popped up and turned to face the Hall again. "Better than nothing." she quipped.

Makoto nodded before standing as well. "She's right, it's all we've got to go on. We'll just have to pay close attention to Ms. Akiyama."

The corner of Usagi's mouth pulled up in discontent. "That's not going to be good enough. Nephrite said we wouldn't be able to protect everyone."

"He could have just been trying to throw us off our game." Luna offered, settling back down into her seat.

Makoto shook her head, straining her eyes on the entrance. "No, he meant it. We have to watch all of the contestants." Reporters were flocking around the building now, as were cameramen. Pushing through the crowd she saw Naru making her way towards them.

"How can we do that?" Minako asked. "Unless we're in the contest they won't let us in."

Rei nodded in agreement. "Even if you could get in you'd have to stay hidden to not get caught, you can't protect anyone if your're hiding."

Usagi smiled deviously. "I've got it covered."

"Usagi! I got your dresses!" Naru shouted, dashing across the street carrying three black dress bags in her arms.

"Our dresses?" Makoto asked dimly as Naru dropped them down onto the hood of the car. "Usagi, we're joining the contest?!"

Usagi nodded and took the first bag. "I called her early this morning and told her about our plan. We'll be taking the place of three contestants and with our dresses we'll be able to move about the Hall without drawing suspicion to ourselves."

The group around her stared Usagi down, surprised at her brilliance.

"Nice thinking, brat." Kalla commented, unzipping one of the bags and giving a whistle of approval.

"You've grown so much, Usagi." Luna said, truly pleased with the girl's ability to plan so far ahead. "I hardly recognize you."

"I can't wait to put on my dress!" Usagi squealed, hugging her dress bag. "I'll be just like those women in the magazines!"

"Looks like the same Usagi to me." Artemis said to Luna with a smile. "You girls can head on up to the Hall then and get changed inside. Rei, you should find your way onto one of these rooftops." he said, waving a hand some of the taller buildings on the street. "Perfect vantage point for an archer."

"Right." the girls said in concert as they exited the car. Luna and Artemis watched them mix in with the crowd in front of the Hall and for Rei to enter the building behind them.

"We should get started too." Artemis said, pushing out his door and stretching his way out of the car.

Luna remained inside for a moment longer, before finally exiting and crossing the street with him. "I have to tell you something."

"Hm?"

After approaching the hall and getting into line Luna waited until the women ahead of them were deep in conversation between starting up hers again. "Yesterday, when I battled Zoisite and Nephrite, I didn't recognize Zoisite at first."

"You said he was in disguise right, in civilian clothes." Artemis said with a shrug. "Makes sense."

"Yeah, he was dressed in regular clothes, but his face was the same." Luna said urgently. "He didn't have on a mask or anything. It wasn't until he changed into his general uniform that I recognized him. It took seeing him in his uniform for it all to click for me, it was like... a blank in my memory."

"Some kind of illusion spell?" Artemis offered and glanced up ahead in the line, to the men at the entrance at the hall checking names. "You know he's a master of illusions."

"He battled with illusionary techniques, but my mind wasn't affected until the battle began." Luna said. "I would have noticed."

"Do you think the Warriors can handle fighting him?" Artemis asked off-topic, his eyes scanning the roof top.

Luna nodded, giving up on their talk about her issue. "When we split after the battle I gave them the breakdown of his illusion techniques, and how to defeat him. I just hope they don't have to fight him."

"You really think they can win?"

Luna smiled at the question, wanting to show him she had complete faith in her girls. Artemis wasn't buying it and regarded her with a knowing look. "No." she finally admitted. "But, in order to even stand a chance against him, they need to fight to win, to kill."

"You think they have what it takes to kill him?"

"Sadly, no. Except Mina, maybe. But she's wounded." Luna had faith in her Warriors, but they were all teenage girls. She didn't expect them to fight with the mentality to kill, for them it was more like just fighting to survive.

"I healed the tendrils in her arm, but it'll take a few days before she's completely healed. She lost a lot of blood."

"That's good to hear."

"So, you don't think Mako could? I mean she's unbelievably strong."

"She's too emotional..." Luna said to herself, resting her chin in her hand. "Her powers really are a reflection of her personality. She can be out of control, loud and aggressive like thunder. Then when it comes down to it, all that power fits into a jagged strike, that hits at random. She just needs direction. And then there's Usagi..."

"Hey, hey relax..." Artemis said, seeing how worked up she was becoming. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "Everything will be fine, it's just one mission. There will be time to train them properly in the future."

For a minute she allowed herself to relax in his arms, a smile lighting up her face. Each time she passed him, his room, or was lucky enough to be as close as they were now, the smell soothed her just like it had the day they met.

Made from a mix of herbs and plants from Mau the scent gave her the comforting feeling of being cherished, being comforted by a loved one.

"Luna...?" he said, releasing his hold on her, noticing the woman almost looked like she'd fallen asleep. "You okay?"

Luna's eyes snapped open, she moved out of his embrace and forward in the line. "Yes, I'm fine." she breathed. "What were we talking about?"

"Training, the Warriors." Artemis said smiling. "Speaking of, what are we going to do about their secondary affinities?"

"We'll have to turn them over to mentors, when they're ready. Ilargi already agreed to teach Mako when the time is right, and I guess Soma will take Mina." Luna said, running through conversations she'd had with the Protectors in the past.

"And Usagi?"

"I'll do it." Luna stated with a bit of confidence that didn't translate into her voice. "I can teach her the Spells of Serenity."

"How?" Artemis asked bluntly. "No one but the Queen and the Princess have knowledge of them."

"The Shrine."

Artemis stayed quiet for a minute, only passing an unconvinced looked to Luna. "The Shrine of Serenity, the one no one believes exists?"

"It does exist!" Luna urged. "I know it does, the Queen told me."

Artemis shrugged and shook his head. "I know you two became close before, it all happened, but why would she reveal something like that?"

"She told me about the Shrine, what it contained, and wanted me to take the Princess there in case she were to die before she was able to pass on the information herself." Luna admitted, her voice dying down.

"Even if it _did_ exist, there's nothing left of the Kingdom but ruins." Artemis said.

Luna smiled. "It was never on the moon."

Artemis stuck his neck out, and looked around them. "It's here, on Earth?"

"Yeah." Luna bit her lip and nodded slowly.

Sighing, Artemis rubbed his forehead and turned his gaze to the ground. "Luna... Why am I just now hearing about this?"

Luna turned the corner of her mouth up, almost lost for words because the truth might hurt more. "I trust you, Artemis, I really do. But I could'd risk _him _finding out."

"Luna! The Council are our friends, our allies, we can't hold things back from them."

"Says the man with a shard of the Silver Crystal in his sword." Luna said, gesturing to his hand. "Have you told any of them about that?"

Artemis paused, each of the Protectors carried a shard in their weapon, but that secret had never been told to anyone else. "We were under direct orders from Mani not to tell anyone. You have one too, don't make it sound like I'm the only one."

"Then you agree, some things are best left unsaid." Luna]said, and continued on before he could argue. "And you know I don't trust him, any of them." she added.

"Those three are here to help us, they're the closest thing to our Queen that we have.

"Until we find the Princess." Luna reminded sternly. "Then she'll take over."

"I don't want to argue." Artemis said, throwing his hands up in front of his chest. He could tell where this was heading and on top of all else a fight with her wasn't what he needed. "Look, if you find the Shrine, how are you going to translate what's on the tablets?"

"Artemis, I can teach her, I know I can." she said. His skepticism was evident. "Just trust me."

"The tablets in the Shrine _need_ to be translated, and can only be done by a decedent of Serene or, Tsukiyomi." Artemis reminded sadly. "As close as you were to the Lunarians, there's no denying what's defined in our blood, or what isn't."

"Usagi was born on the Moon wasn't she? All Lunarians are descendents of those two, somehow." she said, trying to keep faith in her plan alive.

"But how far down the family tree is she? Her blood might be just a watered down version."

"I can still teach her." she responded adamantly. "I know one of the spells." Luna turned her head away to avoid Artemis's shocked face. "If I can teach it to her, then maybe the rest will develop over time."

"You know one of the spells? Which one?!"

"Moon Healing Escalation." she replied slowly.

"Oh, Luna..." he groaned and rubbed his forehead again. "Why... do you-"

"We can talk about this later, we have a job to do right now." she interrupted before they stepped up to the men at the door. "Hi, we're here for the contest."

"Names, please?" one of the men said, flipping back to the first page in stack attached to a clipboard. His partner followed suit and prepared to scan the pages.

"Oh, we should be right here." Luna said slowly, pressing a finger to the page and running it down slowly. Her hand then covered the page, her fingers spread as she threw her hand into his face. The man's pupils dilated rapidly before his knees bent and he collapsed on the ground.

"What'd do you do to him?!" his partner barked, reaching a walkie-talklie on his belt. Artemis' hand appearing in front of his face stopped him before he crashed down to the floor as well.

* * *

"Mako, I'm so sorry!" Usagi cried from inside a bathroom stall. Outside, gathered at the sinks, Minako was putting on Makoto's makeup for her. "He told me about Reika other day at the arcade and after all that happened I completely forgot to tell you! Please don't be mad..."

Makoto sighed, her eyes wide open as an eyeliner marker ran around her eyelid. "Don't worry, I'm not mad." she replied. "Somehow I knew it wouldn't work out in the long run."

"You're not? Oh thank you Mako." Usagi said with a sigh of relief.

"Are you almost done in there, Usagi?" Minako asked impatiently. She and Makoto slipped into their dresses in less than a few minutes, and all time after that was doing hair and makeup. But Usagi had been in the stall the entire time and Minako heard so sign of progress.

"Uh – you know, you guys should head on without me. I'll finish up and meet you in the hall." Usagi said, shuffling around in the stall to make it seem like she was getting dressed.

"You sure?" Makoto moved, trying not to move her lips as Minako applied lipstick to them.

Usagi hummed back her approval and started to work the zipper on her dress back. Listening to the girls exit the bathroom Usagi stood up and looked over the dress.

It was a the lightest shade of pink she'd ever seen, from a distance it looked pure white. Its top was made of lace with an oval shape of the back exposed. It was one Naru said she almost tried on once, she said it would be perfect for her. She agreed it was beautiful. At the waist was a large ribbon and the lower half extended into a wide circle of a train in the back, covered by a layer of lace.

* * *

A man of average height in a pressed black suit climbed the staircase in the main hall, his coifed hair bouncing with each step. "Ladies and gentlemen!" the concert announcer shouted in a reverend tone into his microphone. "Let's give a round of applause to our lovely contestants and their gorgeous gowns!"

The room came to life with waves of applause, the contestants began to chat over the clapping, complimenting each other on their dresses. Moving between the crowd, waiters and waitresses moved swiftly, carrying silver trays of drinks and finger foods.

"Thank you, thank you!" the announcer said before he came to the top of the staircase, reaching a table of judges waiting there. "Of course we have to remember who put this all together! Sports trainer, businessman, and entrepreneur, Masato Sanjouin!"

Masato rose from his seat at the end of the table to another roar of applause. He waved to the crowd below, smirking at the simple humans. "Thank you all for coming." he said into a small microphone attached to his sports jacket. "Myself and the other judges are looking forward to observing your beautiful creations. We'll judge you on your choice of fabric, colour, design, as well as your ability to move in it. Good luck ladies."

Impressed at Masato's speech Makoto snorted. "I can't believe this guy funded this entire contest..." she said in a hushed tone, making sure only the girls flanking her would hear.

"Something about him just doesn't feel right about him." Minako said, snatching a glass of champagne off one of the server trays. "Hehehehe."

From behind her a man cleared his throat in her ear, Artemis. Minako clicked her tongue before she emptied the drink into one of the nearby potted plants.

Makoto smirked at Minako as Artemis disappeared into the crowd wearing a waiter uniform he stole.

"Oh, you guys look amazing!" Naru squealed, approaching the girls through the crowd. "Especially you Usagi, you look like a princess!"

Usagi grinned and began to twirl around. "You think so, huh?"

"Thanks again for the dresses, Naru. It's pretty convenient you found three in our sizes." Makoto said, running her hands down her torso.

"Yeah, it's – uh funny how things work out like that." Naru giggled, rubbing the back of her head. She would have to remember to apologize the women she trapped in a supply closest in their underwear.

"Before we begin our individual judging we'd like you all to take this opportunity to dance and enjoy the food. Meanwhile, the judges and myself will mingle around to get to know you beautiful women!" the announcer said as he trotted down the stairs, followed by three judges.

Makoto pumped her fist in the air and cupped her muscle. "Let's go girls, let's find us dance partners!"

"Already found mine!" Minako sang before she dashed off the wall and vanished into the crowd of swirling dresses.

Makoto sighed. "She's a pro. Hey, Usagi you gonna be okay on your own? I might be a good idea for us to split up."

Usagi nibbled on the inside of her cheek as she scanned the crowd. "Yeah, don't worry, I'll be fine. Go!"

Makoto rubbed her friend's arm in a reassuring manner before she too disappeared into the crowd. Usagi waited against the wall for several minutes before she was approached a man.

"Uh – hello?"

"Greetings, Warrior." Before her stood Experiment-D-U-D, dressed down in light blue slacks, white shirt, and light blue vest.

"Gah!" she shrieked, jumping back against the wall. "What are you doing here?"

Diarmuid placed himself against the wall beside her. "This is Nephrite's plan, myself and two of my clones are inside the Hall, keeping an out for the Warriors."

Usagi gasped. "He brought you to baby sit us!"

He turned his head to Usagi, his voice lowering into a far more serious tone. "He expects to reveal your identities."

"How is he going to do that?"

"When we are recalled, after Nephrite has completed his soul release, he'll tap into our memories to find the faces of the women here today."

"Can he really do something like that?!" Usagi asked. There didn't seem to be any end to the things her enemies could do, she didn't know why she sounded so surprised.

He nodded. "Don't worry Warrior, I am here to help you, in any way I can."

"I'll have to keep the other Warriors from meeting you then." Usagi said, holding her chin. "Will that be good enough?"

"It's not the strongest plan, but it's something. Nephrite is serious about finding out the identities of the Warriors, he'll do whatever it takes to stop you all. Do you know what this means, Warrior?"

"No, not exactly." Usagi replied, honestly. "But what are the chances, even if he knows the faces, that he can find out _they_ are the Warriors?"

"Nephrite would kill all the people in this room if it meant he would destroy the Warriors in the progress." Diarmuid said.

Usagi gulped down hard, she knew he was telling the truth.

"The best thing for the Warriors would have been to not show their true faces here." he said. "If they remained as Warriors, not only would they be prepared to fight, but their civilian identities would not be exposed here."

Usagi smashed her fist into her hand. "I got it! I'll get the others the leave and turn into Warriors, this way they'll be safe!"

"That's fine, but what about you?" he asked lightly.

"You said when you're recalled Nephrite will be able to get hold of your memories." Usagi sighed, glancing to her feet. "Well you already know I'm Warrior Moon, and seen my face today. Even if I left, Nephrite would find out. At least I can save the other girls."

"That's admirable, but I have a solution. All active Experiments of a single being share their line of sight, as well as their memories and knowledge. Simply put, if one of us knows there is a chair on the roof. All three of us will know. But the information shared between our bodies can only be retrieved from the currently active bodies."

Uasgi twitched her eye. "Uh, what does that mean?"

"It means, if these three bodies were to be destroyed, everything learned today would be irretrievable. Your secret would be safe."

"Wow." Usagi breathed.

"You'll have to destroy my bodies before Nephrite recalls us, which is likely to be after he completes the soul release."

"Heh, well is there any way you could, maybe, destroy each other?" Usagi asked with a sheepish grin.

Diarmuid turned his head towards the crowd, scanning the room for someone. "Nephrite would know the moment we tried. He'd likely take complete control over our bodies then. You'll just have to take care of us sometime before it's all over. When you save the victim come to the roof, I'll be there with my clones."

Usagi nodded in understanding. "I can't believe you're telling me all of this, thank you." She was truly grateful.

"I owe my freedom to you, Warrior. I do not like the idea of being controlled, especially not by the likes of the Dark Kingdom. Their goal is dark and their means to achieve it are twisted. But Nephrite is awfully brave, putting himself in the middle of all this." Diarmuid commented, watching the large dancing crowd.

Usagi's eyes darted between him and the crowd. "What? Nephrite's here, now?"

Diarmuid turned to her, noticing the urgency on her face. "Yes, he's there." he turned and extended an arm out, gesturing to the tall man with thick brown hair, Masato.

"Masato, is Nephrite?!" Usagi gasped. "No way!"

"You were there yesterday, didn't you see his face?" Diarmuid asked incredously.

Usagi shook her head and began moving her hands around each other. "There was, a lot of jumping and flipping. I really don't even remember the other guy, Zoisite."

"I see. Well, what is your plan, Warrior?"

Usagi inhaled deeply, at the exhale her body seemed to deflate. "I don't know!" she cried. "There's so much to do, so much going on. I have to protect my teacher, and she might not even be the target! I have to make sure no one else gets killed, have to keep the other girls from being caught! Nephrite is here, and I'm only one girl!" she ended her long winded whine with a cry, twin tear streaks running down her face.

"Relax, Warrior." he said gently, resting a hand on her shoulder. "I will assist any way I can."

"Hey, do you think you could attack Nephrite?"

"Could that actually work?"

"Yes, it wouldn't be a problem to get close to him, strike when his back is turned." Usagi said proudly. "If you're lucky he'll do enough damage and your bodies will fall apart."

"But what if we fail and he puts us under his control, then you'll have no choice." Diarmuid offered in return. As willing as he was to help her, he didn't like the idea of a suicide mission. Even though he was dead, being cut still hurt.

"Alright then. just leave it all to me, I can do this!" she said, her voice unsure. "But, is there anything else you can tell me, 'cause I'm gonna need all the help I can get." she joked.

"Zoisite is here as well, somewhere, as well as an accomplice to Nephrite named Widou." Diarmuid said. "Get your friends to leave out of the exit in the back of the building -"

"Alright ladies!" the announcer called out, cutting off anything Diarmuid might have said. "It's time to get down to business. We're about to start our individual judging portion of the contest, we'll call out your name and when we do ascend the staircase where your panel of judges awaits!"

At the top of the stairs Nephrite and the other two judges had taken their seats and were waving to the crowd.

"While this is all going on, DANCE!" the announcer clapped his hands above his hand and soft music began to play. "Remember I will be watching how you and your dresses move!" the announcer growled in the microphone and started to do a little jig of his own.

"What a creep..." Usagi said under her breath.

"I have to head off, now that the contest has started and Nephrite only has one thing to do he'll be maybe to monitor my actions. I have to keep moving. Good luck, Warrior." Diarmuid said as he moved in towards the dancing crowd.

Usagi gave hima short wave before she too moved towards the crowd. Sticking close to the edge of the mass gathered on the dance floor she occasionally popped up onto her toes to find Makoto or Minako. "Oh, c'mon guys, where are you...?"

"Usagi." Luna hissed from behind her, giving the girl a pinch on the butt.

"Luna!" Usagi whined, cupping her bottom. "That hurt!"

"Sorry, have you seen anything suspicious?" Luna scanned the crowd before she plucked a finger sandwich off the tray she was carrying and bit into it.

"Uh yeah, like Nephrite." she whispered harshly. Luna nearly choked on the sandwich, hacking it up like Usagi saw her get rid of a hairball once. "He's one of the judges, he's got everyone fooled he's some businessman named Masato. I've met him before, with Naru at the tennis court!"

Luna kicked the ball of sandwich into the dance floor and furrowed her brow. "He is being too bold..." she said. "Anything else?"

"Zoisite is here, but I don't know where and someone else named Widou, she's working with Nephrite." Usagi said, still looking for her friends.

"Widou..." Luna repeated with thought.

"Yeah." Usagi said plainly, examining Luna's face. "You know her?"

"I've heard the name... Mako! Mako told me your teacher got a tailor named Widou to hep with her dress!" Luna said.

"Then Ms. Akiyama really is the target!" Usagi said happily. "I'm so happy! Well, not happy because she's the target, but because we know!"

"I'll get Minako to keep a close eye on her, I'll watch out for Widou, Mako can watch Nephrite and I'll have Artemis search for Zoisite." Luna said, a plan revealing itself in her mind.

"No, no!" Usagi said quickly. "We have to get Mina and Mako out of here, they're in danger!"

"What, how?"

"Nephrite's Experiment, it's the same one that attacked Naru that night we met. He told me Nephrite is going to extract their memories, he'll know all of the faces those Experiment's see today." Usagi explained quickly. "We have to get those two out of here before he sees their faces."

Usagi whined seeing the disbelief on Luna's face "Trust me!"

"I do, I do." she assured. "Alright, get the girls out and have them scout from the second floor in their Warrior suits."

"That's my plan." Usagi said before she picked up her dress and darted into the dancing crowd.

Before she had even gone five feet, something latched onto her arm and spun her around. Before she knew it she was chest to chest with a man in a white tuxedo.

"Hello, dumpling."

Usagi flared her nostrils and scrunched up her face in disgust. "Jerk face, why are you here?" she barked.

Mamoru smiled and suppressed a chuckle. "The question is, why are you? You're much too young to be getting married."

"Oh really?" she asked and Mamoru nodded his 'really' back to her. "Well, some men find me to be very mature."

"Really?" he voiced this time. The sarcasm in his voice was so good it almost sounded like he actually believed her. "So, do all mature women call their dance partners jerk face?"

"They would if they knew you." she groaned as Mamoru swung her out and then back in.

Although initially she was kicking herself for not breaking away from him, Usagi found herself enjoying their dance. Mostly because she could actually dance, really well. She'd never taken classes like some of the other girls from school and never been to a dance either, but with Mamoru it was effortless.

They danced through several songs, long enough for the individual judging to finish. At some point the announcer called the names of the contestants she, Makoto, and Minako had taken the place of, but none of them dared to meet the judges. The announcer came back on the speakers several times to tell the crowd how close they were to announcing the winner.

Because her mind wasn't occupied with which foot went where, she was free to scan the room for her friends, which she eventually found.

Makoto was parked in a line of seats near the far wall, chatting with some guy. Minako was too far away, standing near the bottom of the staircase chatting with not one, but three guys.

As the song an invisible band played was coming to a close Mamoru swung Usagi out again. In the turn the room turned into nothing more than a blur to her. In the moment the mostly white wedding gowns turned into vibrant shades of red, blue and green. The few men in the crowd were all dressed similarly in black tuxedos.

The white interior of the hall was gone, replaced with golden tile floors and gold ceilings, from which chandeliers hung. She could hear fountains bubbling in the background and all eyes were on her, and someone she was dancing with.

In the midst of their dance she had been swung out, just like she remembered Mamoru doing to her. At the end of her outstretched arm was a man, tall with dark hair and the deepest blue eyes she'd ever seen. He smiled and pulled her in, she twirled, the end of her dress flying out in a circle, before she was wrapped in his comforting embrace.

Usagi was snapped back to reality as she foot stepped on the train of her gown. She slipped and lunged forward, expecting the cold ground of the hall to break her fall. Instead a pair of arms embraced her and gently brought her to her feet.

"Don't worry," Mamoru laughed. "I won't let you fall."

Usagi stood speechless. She didn't like Mamoru, but in that moment she felt like kissing him. She would have, had the announcer not broke her focus.

"The judges have some to a decision, and the winner of the wedding dress contest is... Akiyama Higure!"

Two loud popping sounds went off near the ceiling and while Usagi shuddered, in fear of what was coming, the crowd cheered as they were bathed in a rain of confetti.

"Come on up, you really deserve it!" the announcer said and dashed down the staircase to help Higure as she climbed the steps.

"I didn't expect to win this at all..." she said, her bangs matted to her forehead from sweat.

"Uh, are you alright miss?" the man guiding her asked. "You don't look so hot."

"I'm fine!" she snapped, spit spraying from her mouth into his face. "Get your hands off me, I don't need help!" she shook the man's hand off her arm and delivered a quick slap to the face before she jogged up the rest of the stairs.

Back on the ground floor Usagi's heart was racing a mile a minute as Mamoru kissed her cheek. "I have to go, but I'll see you around, Usagi."

Usagi swallowed hard and began an odd combination of mouth breathing and laughing. "Yeah, see you, around..." she breathed. "Wow!"

"Usagi!" Luna rasped, bumping into her. "Your teacher won, what are you doing?!" In the corner of her eye Luna saw two figures jumping up and down. Craning her head in that direction she saw Minako and Makoto pointing to their teacher and shrugging back at her.

"I'll tell them to get out of here, and then stop Nephrite!" Usagi said, her brain restarting like a computer after a crash. She fidgeted in her spot before she darted off towards the girls.

"Usagi, what do we do?" Makoto asked, her attention shifting between Usagi and their teacher who was shaking hands with the judges.

"You two have to leave, now!" Usagi urged, grabbing their hands and pulling them into the crowd. "One of Nephrite's Experiments is here and if he sees your face Nephrite will be able to find out who you are, eventually." Usagi added before either could protest, she dragged them back behind the staircase, where the back exit was in sight. "Turn into Warriors and make sure no one gets hurt, but get out of here for now!"

Minako scoffed and Usagi nearly shoved her out of the door. "What about you?!"

Usagi shook her head. "The Experiment already knows my identity, I have to stop them before they are forced to tell Nephrite. But if I fail you guys are safe."

"Usagi." Makoto said thoughtfully before embracing the girl in hug. "You don't have to do this for us, we can fight them and Nehprite."

"Mako's right, there's no need to put yourself in danger just to save us." Minako added.

"No, it's fine. If I can stop the Experiments and save Ms. Akiyama I'll be fine. I just need Mina and Mako out of here and for Venus and Jupiter to help, now go!" Usagi pushed them out of the first set of doors leading to the back alleyway and darted back towards the hall.

Grabbing the staircase railing she spun around it to see Nephrite leading her teacher, the judges, and the announcer into a room upstairs.

"No!" she rasped and began to run up the stairs, taking them two at a time. At the top she watched a sliver of light get smaller as the doors closed.

Reaching the top Usagi threw herself across the landing strip and banged against the door. "Ouch..." she groaned, trying to push through it. "It's locked!" she yelled, trying to jiggle the handle.

"No!" she cried, banging on the door. "Please open up!" Inside Usagi hear a whimper of a cry before three thuds, like something hit the floor. Stepping back Usagi kicked the door, expecting it to fly open, instead she was rewarded with a pain in the leg that made her fall. "Owww." she whined.

* * *

"You think Usagi is gonna be okay?" Makoto asked, dashing down the long hallway that led to the back exit.

Minako huffed, holding up her dress. "She's tough, she'll be fine. And we'll just have to bust our way inside to help her."

Makoto smiled once they reached the exit and pushed through the doors, into the almost blinding sunlight. "Back in the alley, here let's ditch these in the dumpster." she offered, pointing to the giant green trash can.

"Ladies."

"Hm?" Minako turned around to the voice and was met with a swift kick to the gut. "OOF!" she hunched over the foot, grabbing the leg before it vanished and another leg roundhouse kicked her across the alley.

"Mina!" Makoto cried seeing her friend smash into the wall. "What the-?"

Blocking off the exit to the alley was Zoisite, behind him stood three clones of Experiment-D-U-D. "Hello." he sneered.

"W – Who are you?" Makoto asked, trying her best to sound surprised and clueless. She took a small step back and clenched her fists, preparing for the worst.

"My name, is Zoisite." he replied, touching his chest thoughtfully. "These gentlemen behind me all work under myself and one other man, but you knew this already didn't you Warrior – hmm, well actually I don't know which Warrior you are, but you are a Warrior, aren't you?"

"A Warrior?" Makoto asked, her heart beat racing.

"Play dumb all you like." Zoisite said. "But I was told by my men here," he gestured back to the clones. "that two Warriors, in their civilian identities, would be fleeing from this building any minute. And what do you know, two girls came running out."

"We were just leaving, we - didn't win the contest and my friend was really upset." Makoto's eyes darted over to Minako who lay still on the ground. "Please, we just want to go home, we don't know any warriors."

Zoisite eyed her carefully before turning to the Experiments. "Does she look familiar?"

All three of the men shook their head.

"Interesting." Zoisite hummed. "Well, if you aren't the Warriors you are most unlucky humans. As it would happen, I can't leave behind any loose ends and since you know my name, you've become a loose end."

"Name, I don't know your name, I have short term memory loss." Makoto replied quickly. "What was it, John?"

Zoisite gave a long, throaty chuckle, before his sword appeared in his hand. "Very funny."

From the sky a sword dropped, piercing into the concrete in front of Zoisite, narrowly avoiding his foot. Following it Artemis appeared and perched himself down onto the blade hilt.

"Those idiot Experiments you put at the front of the Hall were a joke, Zoisite." Artemis said, leaping back off his rapier, positioning himself a good yard or two away. "You, human girl, take your friend and leave." he commanded to Makoto.

"O – Okay." she said and darted over to Minako, scooping her up and jogging off with her.

"After them." Zoisite growled.

The Experiment on his far right lunged forward, heading for Artemis. A dangerous smirk twisted onto his face as his crimson lance appeared in his hand. His expression dropped quickly though as Artemis disappeared from his vision.

As the Experiment was about to hurl his lance Artemis appeared, hand wrapped around his rapier hilt. With the force of a truck, Artemis slammed his foot into the face of the incoming Experiment. The force caused his body to jerk forward, his neck snapping in the process. Finishing his kick Artemis sent the body flying back across the alley, crashing against the building.

Pulling his sword free of the pavement Artemis pointed it at Zoisite, who snarled at his fallen man.

"You're as fast as ever..." Zoisite growled.

Artemis smiled and let out his held breath. "If you want to get to those girls you'll have to get through me, all of you." he said, noticing the remaining Experiments clutching their weapons.

"Three on one?" Zoisite asked, surprised at how boldly Artemis was challenging them. "Not much fun."

"Just try and keep up."

Artemis and Zoisite rushed to each other, clashing their blades as they crossed before skidding against the pavement to a stop. Whipping around both men lunged back for each other, their blades meeting first, the contact resulting a wave of energy blowing out through the alley.

As the dust settled Zoisite gave his Experiment clones a reassuring nod, signaling them not to get involved. He saw a hint of fear in one of their eyes and whipped his head around to see a blade slicing through the air to him. Parrying the blow Zoisite lunged forward, swinging his own blade towards Artemis. The nimble man effortlessly flipped over it and dropped down swinging his leg out widely, connecting with the back of Zoisite's head.

The general staggered forward, holding his weapon at the ready to block, but Artemis leapt off the ground, extending a leg out for a drop-kick. Zoisite sidestepped, allowing for the man to crash down and send another wave of energy blasting through the alley and second cloud of dust into the air.

Pushing himself up, Artemis flipped backwards out of the dust cloud before he dashed up the wall, in an arc. before coming down onto Zoisite. Prepared for the blow, Zoisite swung his blade out countering Artemis' strike. The combined force of their strikes caused the wall to explode, leaving behind a hole large enough to fit several people through.

As quickly as they bounded away from the spot, they lunged at each other again, their blades clashing. Each meeting of their weapons sent another shock wave of energy out around them, forcing them back before they met again. Clashing blades and sending sparks flying between them.

Pushing off from Zoisite, Artemis flipped back onto the wall, instantly propelling himself towards the general. After a parried slash to his chest Artemis spun around, throwing out wide kicks towards his ribcage that Zoisite deflected.

After pushing off from him again Artemis landed perched on the roof's edge. Zoisite snarled up to him before he lunged into the air, sword by his side. Artemis followed suit and lunged off towards him, his sword posed to stab.

The men met in mid-air, Zoisite slashing his blade against Artemis's chest, cutting deep and sent Artemis spiraling down into the alley.

"Ha!" Zoisite cackled, landing on the roof and checking his blade, displeased by the absence of blood.

Artemis rose to his feet and smiled, grabbing at the collar of his waiter uniform and tearing it away, exposing armor underneath. "You didn't think you could cut me, did you?" he asked smugly.

While listening to the ripping of fabric Zoisite smirked. "The body armor of the Mau. They say you can take nine fatal attacks in that armor before it breaks."

"That's why cats have nine lives." Artemis finished as he tore off the last of his uniform, revealing full body, form-fitting armor made entirely of white segmented plates. A thin line ran across the numerous pieces that made up the chest plate.

In a flicker of light Zoisite appeared beside Artemis, blade held above his head, and quickly swung down. "It won't save you!"

On instinct Artemis flipped over onto his hands, turning around before he slammed a foot down into Zoisite's neck. "We'll see." The fallen body vanished in wavering beams of light and Zoisite reappeared on the rooftop, lunging off towards him.

After extending his arm, and the flick of his wrist, his rapier appeared and fired out four bolts of lightning. Zoisite dodged out each of their paths. "Where were you aiming?!" he sneered.

"At you." Artemis said coyly, jutting his rapier out to the man. "Monitoraggio sciopero!"

The direction of the streaks of lightning reversed, they zipped back and lodged themselves into Zoisite's back. A paralyzing wave of electricity rushed through the general's body, stopping his movement in the air and his body dropped to the ground like a rock.

The clones of Diarmuid standing at the sidelines began to approach Zoisite carefully.

"Don't come for me!" Zoisite snapped, his mouth full of the puddle water he landed in. "Kill him!"

The clones nodded before pulling their spears from their back and lunging for Artemis. Like their commander their movement in the air stopped and they dropped down the ground. Unlike Zoisite, their contact with the ground created two human sized craters.

"I can't move..." Diarmuid wheezed as he struggled to even lift a finger. "It... feels like the air... is crushing me..."

Zoisite swore under his breath and lifted his head, spotting the cause on the rooftop above. "MANI!" he bayed.

Above the battle, the leader of the Protectors waved down to the men. "I thought you might need some help, Artemis." Leaping off the roof Mani landed down beside his fellow Protector, dressed in his standard grey and purple uniform.

"I was fine, but thank you. Taking on all three of them would have been a problem." Artemis replied and jovially pat his friend's back.

Zoisite snorted. "Afraid we would overpower you?"

"No, I just want to give you my full attention." Artemis said sincerely, crossing the alley and positioning his blade to Zoisite's neck. "I'll let you live a while longer if you cooperate."

"Tempting." Zoisite cackled, moving his fingers and toes to test that he was regaining feeling in his body. "Tell me, what is it you could possible want from me?"

"The Dark Kingdom has Jarilo, give him back."

"You want a dead body?" Zoisite asked quickly.

Mani cut-in before Artemis could react. "He's not dead. I can tell." Mani had moved over to the holes in the ground, his hands outstretched towards them. From within occasionally the pained groans of the Experiments could be heard as it began harder for them to breathe.

"And just how do you expect me to bring him here?" Zoisite asked, flexing muscles in his legs and arms now.

"I don't, I want you to take me to him." Artemis moved his sword down, slicing into Zoisite's neck. The pain fully snapped Zoisite out of his stunned state and the man vanished in a wave of light, reappearing behind Artemis.

Darting forward, Artemis leapt onto the wall and threw his legs out, slamming his feet into Zoisite's chest. The general stumbled back before he hit the wall.

Anticipating a sneak attack Mani flipped over the craters, avoiding Zoisite's blade that sliced at him.

"I've been doing this too long to fall for such a trick, Zoisite." Mani said sternly. "Your Totsuka's blade won't cut me."

"You know my sword's name?" Zoisite shrugged apathetically. "Hm!" he grunted as Artemis appeared before him, their blades meeting. As Artemis gained the upper hand, forcing Zoisite down, a second blade appeared in his hand.

Making an almost howl like sound Zoisite slashed at him, causing Artemis to rebound back to the other side of the alley.

Looking up Artemis noticed Zoisite was gone. A dark spot, a shadow, passing over the ground alerted him to the sky. Above Zoisite was coming down at him, blade ready for a large slash.

Artemis let go of his sword and a flash of light filled the alley. He lunged into the sky, flipping over so fast for a moment his body became a ball before he lodged his foot into Zoisite's throat. Gripping his shoulder Artemis moved behind him, slamming his combined fists down onto his spine.

Zoisite crashed down into the ground and Mani extended a hand to him, the speed that he fell increasing and sending the man deep in the ground.

Artemis landed and snatched up his sword before it managed to hit the ground.

Mani gave a small whistle in Artemis' direction. "You've gotten so fast."

"Heh." Artemis scratched at the back of his head before his rapier vanished. "Well, it looks like we've taken down one of the generals. The Council will be happy."

"You think you've taken me down?" Zoisite said from behind Artemis. From the puddle he stood before Zoisite's body took form from he water.

Artemis jumped away, passing over the crater left behind only to see it filled with water. "Damn, an illusion body made of water."

"You're giving him too many chances to use his illusions. I counted seventeen chances he had, and he only took one." Mani said ardently. "Had I been your opponent, you wouldn't have even gotten that one."

Zoisite raised a curious eyebrow. "How observant." he commented, winking in Mani's direction.

"I can handle him, sir." Artemis said, clutching his rapier hilt as it appeared again. "If it's not too much trouble, could you dispose of those Experiments and leave the area?"

Mani nodded in understanding before clenching his fists and releasing them, the two bodies of Experiment-D-U-D raised out of their holes, floating above the ground. In one of Mani's hands a large scythe appeared, in one swing he lopped off the heads of the two men, their bodies falling back into their craters.

"Powers of levitation?" Zoisite guessed. "No, you increased the rate at which we all fell..."

"No need to worry about his powers!" Artemis shouted, flying towards Zoisite, his blade cutting into his arm. "I'll kill you here, making me your last opponent. The only powers you need to worry about, are mine, cremazione!" From the hilt of his sword fire shot down the blade and caught Zoisite's arm on fire.

Once Mani's scythe had vanished he leapt into the air, heading back to the roof. From his blind side came a man, Loki, with his blade out to slice the man in half. Before his blade could connect with flesh a foot jammed itself up into jaw.

The man grunted seeing Artemis below him. "You like sneak attacks?"

Loki groaned before wrapping his arms around Artemis' leg only for the man to vanish out of his grasp, reappearing in front of Zoisite. Slashing upwards, Artemis managed to slice through Zoisite's arm, sending the severed limb flying off.

Zoisite roared and made a slash at Artemis, after parrying the blow Artemis flipped away from the man, watching Loki land beside his master.

"Loki! Did you finish with the miko girl?!" Zoisite rasped through the pain as he clutched his bleeding shoulder.

"Yes..."

Mani landed slowly on the roof and headed off across it. "I trust you can handle them both, I have faith in you, Artemis." he muttered.

"THEN KILL HIM!" Zoisite roared, staggering out of the alleyway.

Loki grunted and rubbed his jaw. "You will pay for laying a, foot, on me!"

"Cremazione." Artemis said dryly, another wave of fire spreading from his blade tip.

Loki waved his broad sword at it before he jumped to his feet and then into the air, landing on the roof. Artemis flipped back, his feet pressed against the wall, before he lunged off, flying up towards Loki. "Tell me what he meant by the miko girl?"

"Heh, there was a miko girl on the rooftop across the street. I paid her a visit." Loki replied, swinging his blade wildly at Artemis. The nimble man dodged each of the slashes. "If she was one of yours you'll feel sorry for not giving her backup. She way I left her, she's probably... not okay."

* * *

On the rooftop she was stationed for lookout on, Rei lay in a growing pool of her own blood. The crimson liquid was covering all of the small pebbles and rocks coating the roof. Around her lay her arrows, some broken in five pieces, other embed into the roof, evidence of the fight she put up.

In her bloodied hand she clutched her broken bow for dear life. She coughed violently, blood splattering around her lips, adding to the already dried specks there. In the corner of her eye she spotted her cell phone, half embed into the gravel. She needed to make a call

* * *

"Mako." Minako rasped, coming into consciousness sprawled across Artemis' backseat. "Mm, what happened?"

"Oh, thank Kami you're okay." Makoto said, turned around in the passengers eat. "We got ambushed. I think that guy, Experiment-D-U-D, Usagi trusted him, and I think he led us into a trap on purpose."

"Usagi, where is she?" Minako asked, coming out of her somnolent state.

"Still inside." Makoto said, glancing across the street. The entrance to the Hall was closed and she couldn't see anything through the windows. "Stay here, okay?"

"No, Mako." she protested. "I'm fine, I can fight. We have to help."

"Help how? This is a nightmare!"

Minako dropped her head back down onto the seat and sighed. "This sucks..."

Makoto paused before she hopped into the driver seat, opening the door. "The people inside, Nephrite said we wouldn't be able to protect them all, he's gonna do something to them. So we have to get them out of there, the fire alarm!"

"Good idea!" Minako said. Pain from her head radiated through her whole body. "But can you do it alone? I think I'm gonna stay here, the world is spinning..."

Makoto laughed and hopped out. "I'll be right back."

As she listened to Makoto's footsteps heading away from the car Minako dug her phone out from her bra and dialed in Rei's number. After several rings the call was answered and Minako sighed happily. "Rei, I need your help. Mako is gonna be pulling the fire alarm to clear the building, but Artemis is facing Zoisite alone, he needs some help can you get to a good point to give him some support?"

After a moment of silence Minako checked the phone.. "Rei? Rei, can you hear me?" She checked her phone again, the call was still going on. "Rei?"

* * *

With one final charge against the door Usagi busted into the room, tumbling across the floor in the process. A foul stench worked its way into her nose as she rolled to her feet. Observing the room she gasped as what lay around her. Three bodies, each of them was missing a face, or rather it had been melted off.

The smell of acid and blood filled her nose as he looked over one of the bodies. The skin of the face had been dissolved, leaving behind holes in the flesh. The man she was near, the announcer, had the entire right side of his face missing, his skull fully visible.

"Oh my..." she gasped watching something black crawl out of the body. As her eyes darted over the man she saw more of them, crawling out the holes in his face, from his ears, nose and mouth. All filing into straight lines headed for the doors.

Glancing to the other bodies she watched similar black lines move towards the exit. Daring to get closer she crouched down and narrowed her eyes at the line.

"SPIDERS!" she cried, leaping up and shaking her dress noticing several were crawling on her. "Get offgetoffgetoffgetoffgetoffgetoff!" she whined, jumping around the room before she decided to ditch the dress. Slipping her arms through it Usagi yanked the dress off over her head, tossing it to the side.

Between the dead bodies Usagi stood in her Warrior Moon suit, which she changed into in the bathroom once the others left. Tapping her forehead her mask appeared in a flash of light.

Giving the room one last once over she saw a door off on the far right side. "Nephrite, I'm coming for you!"

* * *

While Luna held her serving tray out, offering a quickly disappearing assortment of mini cakes to the contests, her eyes were locked on Widou. Higure's tailor checked her watch several times within the last minute and was occasionally looking up towards the room the judges had vanished into.

Once Widou darted into one of the hallways Luna dropped the serving tray and followed after her. Sticking close to the wall Luna poked her head around the corner, spotting Widou halfway down the hall, opening each closed door she passed.

"What is she up to...?" Luna whispered, making her way down the hall at a quickened pace, staying low to the ground. Stopping short of the first door Widou opened Luna peaked inside, stunned at way lay within.

In the corners of the room were the largest spider webs she'd ever seen. While most go unnoticed until you run into them, these webs were a sickly yellow colour and thick enough to hold a spider the side of a small car.

Luna moved across the hall and peered into another room to find the same thing, webs covering the entire room. After several more rooms Luna paused realizing she had lost sight of Widou.

Swearing under her breath she jogged down the rest of the hall before stepping out into a T bend. Instantly a pair of fists collided with her jaw, sending her staggering to the floor.

"Ouch." she coughed, her head spinning.

"Why are you following me?!" a woman snapped, her voice coming from Luna's side, but also above her. "No matter, you won't bug me anymore!

Luna snapped her eyes open to see a creature, part spider and part women standing on the wall. Opening her mouth the creature released a thick white goo that quickly coated Luna. As it began to settle on her, it hardened, becoming like a million strings encasing her body.

"What are you?!" Luna rasped through the cocoon pressing down on her chest.

Coming down off the wall Luna could make out her full body now. The body of naked human woman, with skin the colour of rust. From each of her sides came three human arms, twice of the size of regular arms, of which the creature had two. On the six extra arms there were thin black hairs that coated the limbs. Dropping its head back the creature looked at Luna, upside down before opening its mouth, pincers just like a spiders protruded from the opening and click at Luna.

"I am the Black Widou known also as Arachne!" she cackled before spitting a line of goo at Luna that connected the cocoon to her mouth. Walking backwards Arachne dragged the struggling woman into one of the rooms filled with webs.

"You'll be just fine here." Arachne sneered, placing Luna's cocoon against the wall and shooting more goo to hold her in place against it. "So long for now."

Watching Arachne exit the room Luna struggled to free herself, but the cocoon was too tight. Quickly becoming frustrated with her restrained movement, Luna tried moving as fast as she could, twisting and turning in hopes of loosening her binds. All efforts proved otiose.

Luna paused and took a moment to think rationally of an escape plan. But her moment of respite was ruined by the sound of something cracking open. Alarmed she turned her attention to the webs around her, from the center a large split appeared in them, from that crack appeared small black creatures.

"Spiders..." she breathed as the spiders numbers seemed to double each second. She watched the arachnids swarm the floor and scuttle their way to the door, joining with more that were already in the hallway. "They're heading for the main hall!" she grunted, trying again to break free.

She soon stopped though, watching small black spiders emerge from within the webbing containing her. On their backs she could see a small red hourglass pattern that made her blood run cold. The feeling of something crawling over her arms and caused her freeze as more spiders emerged from within her cocoon, some traveling up her neck and others already making their way through her hair.

A prick at the back of the neck caused her to scream out in pain and her body to shut down.

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty Four

* * *

Next, all of Nephrite's plans are falling into place. Arachne begins her attack on the contest participants, Nephrite's soul release begins and Warrior Moon is left to deal with the consequences. As predicted, not all can be saved and the actions of the Warriors cost the life of someone close to them. And what confession does Artemis have? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Twenty Five - Skeleton Bells 3**


	25. Skeleton Bells 3

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about throughout the story.

**Note:** Thank you to ericaphoenix16, LoveInTheBattleField, avesiji, and DonovanX for reviewing.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Five - Skeleton Bells 3**

* * *

"Nephrite, I'm coming for you!"

Leaving behind the fast decaying corpses, Moon dashed across the room and threw her full weight into the door. Bursting into the adjacent room Moon stood still watching, as her teacher, Akiyama Higure, lay bent over in Nephrite's arm.

Nephrite turned his head for a second, giving Moon a circuitous smile before he plunged his hand forward, into Higure's chest. Moon's breath hitched in her throat as if the hand had pierced her as well. Higure didn't react, Moon couldn't be sure if she was even alive anymore.

Nephrite was in up to his wrist when a flash of dark light blew away the dress fabric on Higure's chest. A moment later the skin around Nephrite's hand began to double back on itself. As if it was being spread apart by a second pair of hands, a hole in her chest formed around Nephrite's hand.

"Wh - What are you doing?" Moon croaked, her throat dry and prickly like she'd swallowed a cactus.

"A soul release." Nephrite answered slowly.

Moon watched, in utter confusion, as Nephrite withdrew his hand and with it came a thick glob of dark blue light. It swirled around his hand and in the center she could see a small object in the shape of a diamond. Around it a halation was fading, becoming consumed by the fast spreading murkiness that was overtaking the light.

Bringing his other hand up Nephrite took hold of the light and began to pull, slowly separating it from the diamond object.

"Watch and learn Warrior Moon!" Nephrite cackled before yanking the light off the object that Moon could now see was a small six-sided gem.

Her mind told her to jolt forward into action, but her body remained frozen as Nephrite thrust the diamond back into Higure's body. The once blue and white gem was a sickening purple and black colour once it was forced back inside her. Once Nephrite's hand cleared the orifice, Higure seemed to come back to life.

With a heavy intake of breath Higure's body started to function again, she screamed first as the hole in her chest closed. Nephrite slipped his arm from under her, leaving her to fall as he took fast steps towards the opposite wall.

"Tend to her Moon, I'll be taking my leave now." he sneered as his body began to merge with the wall.

"Nephrite!" Moon snapped, the numbness in her limbs fading. She lunged forward, catching her teacher before she hit the ground and pulled her into her lap. "Hey, don't worry, it's gonna be okay..."

Moon brushed a few strands of hair from her face and tried to get a feel of her temperature.

* * *

With a swing of his blade, a wave of thick black mist began to surround Loki. Artemis jumped back several feet to avoid the mist.

Flipping over backwards, Artemis snatched up a handful of rooftop gravel. Landing on his feet he threw his arm out wildly to the right, allowing a rock he grabbed to be thrown out to Loki. Once the first was about halfway he swung his arm back, throwing out another.

Loki caught the first rock and with a single swing of his sword Loki sliced the second rock in two, his black mist meeting with its halves and dissolving them into dust.

Artemis charged in, in his hand, waving behind him, his rapier appeared. Loki made a wide horizontal swing, sending a wave of black mist forward. Gritting his teeth, Artemis hurled out his rapier and leapt up, watching the mist crash down onto the roof below him.

"Hmph!" Loki slashed at the rapier, their blades coliding and sending the smaller weapon flipping off to the side and pulled back his arm back before hurling the rock up.

Artemis let the rest of the gravel seep through his fingers, keeping hold on his final rock he hurled down at Loki's projectile.

Turning his body to the side Artemis pulled back a leg - preparing for a kick - as a body formed out of the mist. Throwing his leg forward Artemis busted through the still forming arm of the clone. Throwing his arms down Artemis spin his body around like a cyclone before tucking his legs in, quickly throwing them out again to propel himself off to the side.

As the mist clone reformed, Artemis spun around, throwing a fist out that smashed through the neck of the body double.

A smirk had formed on Artemis' face, seeing the clone falling apart, but it quickly faded as the mist began to eat away at his armor. Slowly the white padding sizzled away, as if acid was dissolving it, exposing his skin beneath.

"Ack!" After drawing back his other arm Artemis punched out the head of the clone, the body of it fazing out of corporeal form, leaving Loki defenseless.

After a moment of reprieve Artemis lunged forward, fist out, but was met with a wall of mist that intercepted his blow.

Before the mist had a chance to eat away at his armor Artemis vanished. Loki's eyes opened wide at the unexpected move and flinched, feeling a presence behind him. Hunched beside his sword, that was embed into the gravel, was Artemis.

Pushing off with his hands Artemis stuck his leg out, connecting with Loki's jaw and sent the man spiraling into the air. Before he regained composure, his body became wrapped in the mist.

Artemis yanked his sword from the roof and hurled it, watching it land several yards away before he jumped up. Flipping around to add momentum, Artemis delivered another kick, this time on Loki's shoulder that sent the Experiment crashing down into the roof.

Rolling to a stop Loki roared and the mist cleared from around him. Appearing ahead of him Artemis charged in again, zig-zagging as he approached.

Loki swung out his arm, his mist shooting out at Artemis. Each jet of mist only managed to slip past him as Artemis maneuvered past them before he vanished again, reappearing a foot behind Loki, clutching his blade.

"I'm ready for you this time!" Loki snapped, waving a hand back that sent several waves of mist towards the man. Artemis crouched for a second, pushing himself into the air a moment later before he slammed his leg down onto Loki's shoulder.

Pushing off from him, Artemis flipped backwards before he started to run in circles around him. As he started moving faster Artemis leaned forward, using his hands now as he zipped around Loki on all fours.

Unable to focus on which image of Artemis he was saying was real, Loki roared in frustration and slashed wildly at the after-images. Spotting an opening Artemis lunged forward, curling his body up and bashing into Loki's side.

Lurching forward Loki groaned and stabbed his blade into the ground. The black mist around him churned violently as it formed a protective dome.

Unwilling to let it form completely Artemis charged in. He suddenly doubled back though as thick arms, with long claw like extensions protruded from the dome. Each appendages slashed at him, crashing into the rooftop and crawled for him.

In a flash Artemis vanished from his spot, reappearing at his sword, and lunged in towards the dome. His following kick was met with one of the mist arms and after that several spires formed, jabbing out to him.

"Shit..." he hissed, yanking his leg back and somersaulting to avoid the spires. On his feet he could feel the mist eating away at the armor again.

From the corner of his eyes he spotted more mist arms coming for him and flipped into the sky. Keeping an eye on the spires below left him blind to the fist shooting up from the top of the dome.

"GUH!" he coughed, having the wind knocked out of him before fingers wrapped around his body and a large hand yanked him out of the sky. Before he had a chance to react he slammed into the roof of the dome. The feeling of his abdomen being exposed by the vanishing armor was replaced by six sharp pricks.

Flashing away from the spot Artemis again appeared by his sword, cupping his stomach. "This armor is built to withstand attacks, but I can't keep this going if he dissolves it..." Artemis muttered, removing his hand and checking at several small bleeding spots on his stomach.

"This mist is gathered from the trees in of the Norse Black Forest as a liquid, and enchanted into its mist form!" Loki snapped as he appeared from within the dome. "I'll rip the flesh from your bones!" he roared, flying across the roof to him, his blade outstretched.

After forming a series of hand seals Artemis gripped his right shoulder tightly. A yellow glow came from his skin before electricity began to crackle over his arm. Dropping down into a crouching position Artemis avoided the jab of his blade. Jabbing upwards his sword pierced through the Experiment's chest.

* * *

"What... happened?" Higure asked, her chest heaving in an awkward pattern with each breath she took.

Moon felt tears burning in her eyes and squeezed the woman's shoulders. "You won the contest." she forced a small laugh.

A smile tried to light up Higure's face, but dark circles were forming under her eyes, her skin was a sickly white and the smile was nothing short of terrifying to Moon. "I won..."

"Yeah." Moon said, a tear dripping from her eye and landing on the edge of her mask. With a tilt of her head the tear slipped through the slash and landed onto Higure's cheek.

"Don't cry..."

Moon choked on a laugh and more tears streamed from her eyes. "That's like telling the sun not to shine." she joked.

"I don't know... who you are, but can you... find my fiancée?" Higure breathed, her eyes lids fluttering close. "I have something... I want to tell him. I've been... awfully rude to him... and everyone..."

Moon sniffled back whatever was dripping from her nose and nodded. "I'll go find him, and I'll get help too."

"No, just Genta, please..." Higure said and rubbed her chest. "It hurts..."

"Your chest? Just wait, I'll get someone who can help." Moon urged, thinking about Luna.

"It feels like... something... is burning away my air..." Higure rasped.

"It's gonna be okay-" Moon paused hearing something shatter in front of her. By Higure's expression Moon could tell she heard it as well, and possibly felt it.

"Miss...?"

An explosion followed her voice. One strong enough to knock her off her feet, snapping her arms back, stinging her body like she'd slammed into an ocean face first. The sound erupted in front of Moon and deafened her for a minute, but in the distance she could hear something wet and thick hitting against the walls.

As the buzzing in her head subsided a stench crammed its way up into her nostrils. Something she had only smelled once before, albeit she would never forget it. The smell of a body that had its organs splattered across the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room.

Opening her eyes that was the horror Moon had been placed in.

* * *

Black dust filled the air over Juuban Hall and sweat, along with drops of blood slid down Artemis's cheeks. Giving Loki's body a good push the man managed to roll the slow vanishing body of the Experiment off him.

Seizing the opportunity to breathe without another body on him Artemis remained still on the rooftop, taking in several deep breaths. "I need to make sure the others are alright." he groaned before he standing tall, catching a glimpse of Loki's vacant eyes.

With a slow jog he reached the roof's edge and glanced across the street. No sign of Rei on any of the opposite rooftops, but below he could see someone crouched beside his car.

After making sure the sidewalk was clear, Artemis made quick work of leaping and jumping from the roof and off railings before he reached the ground.

As he jogged to the car Makoto finally noticed him after he called her name a few times. Standing up from a pile of her ripped up dress, Makoto smiled at the man.

"You're alive!" she thought aloud, mentally slapping herself a second later.

Artemis gave a throaty chuckle and looked over his armor, riddled with small cuts, a few larger gashes, and several plates of armor missing or partially dissolved. "Somehow." he joked.

"What about the clones, and Zoisite?"

"Zoisite escaped, but not without getting his ass kicked first. Mani took care of the clones. So, where are the others?"

Makoto stepped back and gestured into the backseat, to Minako who lay sprawled out across it.

"How is she?"

Makoto shrugged. "As well as can be expected, she _was_ kicked in the head. I haven't heard anything from Rei, Usagi, or Luna."

"Are they still inside?" Artemis asked ardently, looking back towards the Hall.

"I haven't seen anyone leave the front entrance." Makoto said.

"Alright, I'll go get them. I can still sense Nephrite in the area. Get Rei and stay by the car." Artemis said before he jogged off across the street.

Unsurprisingly once he reached the Hall he was greeted by a door that wouldn't budge. He quickly jiggled the handle, it turned without a problem. "It's not locked..." he whispered before stepping back and looking at his other option, the windows.

He decided to enter through the once nearly covered by shrubs and trees. He had less of a chance of someone passing by seeing him that way. Thrusting his elbow into the glass it shattered instantly, spraying the inside of the Hall. Hopping over, Artemis landed on a mound of some sorts and stumbled off it, rolling down it and across the floor.

"What?" he breathed, looking at dark piles that were gathered in front of both doors and the sets of windows. Standing his head was caught in a thick collection of webs that were hanging between two walls.

After a bout of fidgeting and shaking his hair free of them Artemis glanced around the main hall. Most of the lights inside had either burned out, or just stopped working. Only select patches of the room were light up anymore, and what natural light came through was blocked by the webs that were coating the room.

After taking a closer look Artemis realized the mounds that blocked the door were in fact humans, guests of today's contest.

Artemis buried his face in the bend of his arm to block out the smell, taste, of what he realized was fast decaying corpses.

A quick survey of the room, and a few rooms nearby showed him no one on the first floor seemed to be left alive. "LUNA!" he shouted as he exited one of the hallways near the entrance. "Luna, Usagi! Can you hear me?"

Going down onto one knee Artemis laid his hand on the floor, straining his eyes shut. "Too many energy signals to find the two of them..." he muttered. "But, everyone's dead. Where is are all the energy signals?"

Pausing to try and locate where within the building the energy was heading allowed him to pick up on a trail. Lunging from his spot. Artemis darted off towards one of the hallways towards the back of the room.

Entering the hall he poked his head inside each room he came across, all with their doors open and a thick collection of what looked like webs inside. Only looking for a second didn't give him the chance to figure out exactly he was looking at, but the energy trail he was following was more important.

After taking the left turn in a T-bend he glanced inside several more rooms before he came across one that made his heart skip a beat.

Sprawled across the center of the room was no other than Luna. The floor around her was alive with small black things that were scuttling around her fallen body.

"Shoo!" Artemis snapped, like he was trying to fled a group of cats. His rapier appeared in his hand and with a few jabs, streaks of red light blasted away at the mass before they dispersed. "Luna, Luna – are you alright?"

After rolling her over Artemis scooped Luna into his arms, pulling her into his lap. The way her legs lay, in an almost broken fashion, and the way her arms dropped sadly to her side made him assume the worst.

"Luna, Luna please answer me..." Artemis said, his eyes beginning to burn. Snatching up her wrist he pressed two fingers down and tilted his head down to her chest. Not hearing a beat or feeling a pulse, he recoiled back.

He pat her cheeks, hoping she would jolt awake at any minute. Working his fingers across her palm he tried his best to lace their fingers as a wave of tears slipped over his lids. "Luna, please answer me..."

"Luna." he whispered and laid her down, clutching her hand tighter now as his sobbing started up. Reality was beginning to set in. Immortality was a gift, but they weren't gods, and death was still a threat. "Luna..."

Though her expression was clear, he could make out a million things she might do at any minute. Her lips, he waited for the moment the corners would curl up and make a smile. Following that her laughter would explode inside the room and send him stumbling back in surprise, but the only sound that followed was no sound.

Her eyes, the crease lines at the corners, he could picture them as they would look when a pain expression would take over. He could see her sitting up slowly, rubbing her forehead. He would rush to help her sit and tell her to take it easy.

He opened his mouth and quickly closed it, the silence had built up around them and he couldn't find it within himself to shatter it. But he did.

"Luna." he said, his voice no more than a whisper now. He ran the back of his hand against her cold cheek. "I've liked you. Since the first day we met I knew you were special. We spent every day today on Mau, and when became an ambassador to the Moon it killed me to see you leave... Finding you all those years after the attack on the Kingdom was the happiest I'd ever been."

He took her hand again, planting a kiss against her palms before coiling her fingers down and holding her hand close. "I knew things were going to be tough, but I also knew – that if we were together, we could get through it. And we did." he smiled, lines of tears streaming down his cheeks again and over his lips.

"My only regret... is that I didn't get a chance to tell you how – how much I loved you."

Hunching over Artemis folded her arms across her chest and left behind a kiss on her forehead. In the doorway he heard several footsteps approach. He wiped away the rest of his tears and sat up as a pair of feet entered the room.

"We need to go." Mani said, taking in the condition of the room. "Kalla, take Luna to our headquarters."

Kalla nodded and passed Artemis, scooping up the woman's body. Without word he left the room, his jogging pace heard withal.

"Artemis, the police are on their way." Mani started. "As Head Protector I'm ending this mission and recalling all our forces. As the only current Global Protector of Warriors it's your duty to ensure the safety and well-being of the Cosmic Warriors whose whereabouts are currently known."

Artemis bobbed his head before standing. Sniffling back mucus he turned from the room and pushed past Mani.

* * *

Makoto kicked down the jammed door leading to the rooftop, throwing herself into the bright light a second later.

"Rei!" she shouted, cupping her mouth. "Rei, you up here?"

After a quick scan of the rooftop Makoto saw a discolored portion off in the corner and someone laying down in it. Jogging across the gravel top roof Makoto's expression fell flat seeing Rei laying like a broken doll in a pool of blood.

"Rei!" Makoto dropped down beside her and began to shake her gently, slapping her cheeks. "Rei, can you hear me?!"

"Yes! Now stop yelling at me..." Rei grumbled, raising an arm to cover her eyes from the sun.

Makoto let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Kami. C'mon, let's get you out of here." Makoto offered and she tried to slide her arms under the girl.

"Mako, stop. Get yourself out of here, I called the police everything will be fine." Rei said softly, waving for her to leave.

"I'm not going to leave you up here to bleed to death." Makoto shouted, surprised they were about to argue over saving her life.

"This isn't a game Mako! My life, isn't as important as yours... People are gonna die, you have to live with that fact."

"The only thing I'll have to live with is knowing I left you here!" Makoto shouted over the sound of approaching police cars, whose sirens were resounding through the entire block.

Through thin breaths of air Rei managed to speak in a raspy voice. "Thank you, for caring. But I won't make it, I'm..." Rei broke off in mid-sentence to let out a thick cough, a few drops of blood flying from her mouth and onto her chest. "too beat up."

Makoto took hold of her hand and held on tight, even tighter as the police cars squealed to a stop on the street below. "Shut up you stupid girl!" she joked. "But you do look like crap."

Rei forced out a laugh that turned into a scoff as she felt Makoto's arms under her. "Stop, Mako!"

"I told you to shut up! This is not a debate!" Makoto barked, jogging across the roof and down the stairs. "What happened to you anyway, who did this?" Makoto asked as calmly as she could, there was fresh blood leaking down her arms from open wounds on Rei's back.

"One of... those clones Usagi fought..." Rei sighed. "That's why I told you to leave me Mako, Luna said wounds from that guy don't heal..."

Makoto laughed as they exited the staircase and she jogged through the empty halls of what used to be a book store. "They only heal once the guy is defeated. And according to Artemis those creep clones got what was coming to them, you're going to be just fine!"

Going at a light jog Makoto made her way back to the car, the girl's blood dripping down onto her dress now. Noticing Rei's eyes had closed Makoto shook the girl in her arms like a doll. "Hey! Stay with me!" she croaked and Rei's head bobbed side to side.

"I'm here..." she breathed.

"Good, now stay here!" Makoto said as they exited the alley and headed to the car, yanking open the passenger side door. Snatching up a jacket from the floor Makoto wrapped it around Rei and sat her down inside.

After shutting the door Makoto peered over the top of the car, catching sight of Artemis jogging at the car. "Artemis, what's going on?" Her frustration flared immediately as Artemis ignored her and vanished into the car. "Artemis?"

"Get in Mako, we're leaving." he said coldly, looking over to Rei. Makoto eased herself into the backseat, resting Minako's head in her lap, Artemis paid the girls a quick glance.

Pushing herself between the two front seats Makoto slapped her hand onto the steering wheel. "Leaving? Wait – what about Usagi, and Luna?"

"Protocol states when a mission is called off, all agents in the field whose location and condition are unknown are to be left." Artemis repeated verbatim from an unwritten rule book. Knocking Makoto's hand off the wheel he started up the car, but the girl's hand snatched on the keychain, shutting the car off.

"Protocol, what the hell does that mean? They're not _agents_, Usagi is my best friend and Luna is – Luna's Luna! We can't leave them!" Makoto never felt so frustrated than she did then. Artemis began muttering his protocol line again, barely loud enough for her to hear, and started up the car.

"Just tell me what happened!"

"Usagi's whereabouts are unknown... Kalla took Luna's body back to our headquarters."

Before Makoto had a chance to protest again to them leaving she was thrown back once Artemis floored the car. "GUH!" she coughed, hitting the backseat. "ARTEMIS!"

"Protocol states when a mission is called off -"

"Artemis, I don't care! Stop the car!"

Before he could finish reciting protocol Makoto cut him off. Roaring in anger she reached for the door handle, but the lock on top of the door clicked down before she had her hand on it. "Artemis!"

"Protocol states..."

"Shut up!" Makoto screeched, tears burning in her eyes. Digging into her pocket she clutched her phone and punched in Usagi's number.

* * *

A ringing in the adjacent room snapped Moon out of her trance. The once steaming chunks of intestines that coated her suit and the room had cooled. Like cold sweat clinging to her skin, the chill of flesh was sinking through her suit.

Moving without thought, Moon's legs forced her to stand and then to turn and leave. The room around her was void of chroma and each step she took seemed to take all the strength she had. Groping out to the walls around her Moon managed to stagger into the room.

The ringing was still there, but seemed further away now. With a hazy mind she scanned the room, finding her dress still laying in the center of the room, the epicenter of the ringing.

The smell of gore lessened the closer she got the phone. The overbearing stench of death had cleared, but it still lingered on her suit and her mask. Collapsing onto her dress her hands fished through the mound of fabric to find the black phone.

Clutching it tightly, the ringing resonated through her body.

"Put your hands up!"

Moon's tipped her head back, looking towards the doorway where a police officer stood. On his sides several more officers filed in, guns and flashlights held over one another as they scanned the room.

"Clear!"

"Put the phone down, and put your hands on the back of your head." the officer said, shining the beam into her face.

Moon flinched back from the light, the phone slipping from her hands.

"Hands on the back of your head!"

Before Moon had a chance to react a cold metal fastened around her wrist and her arms were pulled behind her. Without struggle her hands were cuffed and she was pulled onto her feet and shoved towards the door.

The officer in the doorway stepped aside, lowering his arms and nodded to his officers that passed him. Getting a better look at the figure of their suspect. "Miss, you're under arrest."

* * *

"Superintendent!"

"Quiet down, Wakagi."

Before the young faced inspector could thank his superior for coming in so late, she cut him off. Natsuna grumbled and tightened a trench coat at her waist, concealing her nightgown. Words couldn't describe how exhausted she was, if she was given a few minutes away from the din of the police station she would fall back asleep instantly.

There hadn't been a night like this in a few weeks, not since what were described as meteors landed in the city and the strange occurrences that followed threw everything into chaos. Phones were ringing off the hook, pounding in her mind, and it seemed every officer on duty was talking all at once. Her station was in chaos again.

Once word spread Natsuna had arrived Wakagi could only watch in anxiety as officers and inspectors swarmed onto her. Manilla folders and reports were thrown her way and the din in the station became focused around her. Wakagi had never seen her look more overwhelmed.

"All of the contestants were found dead at the scene!"

"We found evidence of animal activity!"

"Only one person was found left alive, we brought her in for questioning!"

Natsuna whipped around to the last voice she heard. "The suspect, take me to her." Natsuna clamped her hand down onto the shoulder of the officer as he left the crowd and led her through their building towards one of their interrogation rooms.

"Wakagi, give me the short version."

"Yes ma'am, well uh – we received the call at around seven that there was criminal activity at Juuban Hall, what kind wasn't specified. More calls came in shortly after that, believed to have come from within the building, that claimed people were dying and that there were spiders everywhere. There were also a few calls that claimed there were fights occurring in the area, as well as explosions."

Natsuna nodded as she was led into the sub-interrogation room and faced the two-sided mirror. On the other side she looked into a dim room, with only a wide chrome table and one girl sitting at it.

"Is this our suspect...?" she muttered, unable to take her eyes off the girl's blue suit.

One officer, already in the room, stepped out from the corner and held up a large plastic bag. Inside it was a white mask, spotted with dark red chunks. "The suspect was wearing this."

Natsuna furrowed her brow at it, squeezing the corner of the bag to get a feel of the material inside it. "What is this?"

"We did a small test and we believe it to be human remains, likely bits of an organ." the officer nodded towards the glass. "The suspect's suit was, is, covered in it. We couldn't get her to change, and she hasn't spoken at all either."

Wakagi frowned at Natsuna's expression, she looked distraught watching the girl through the glass. "Do you know her?"

"Hmm?" Natsuna hummed before furiously shaking her head. "No, I just – I'll start the interrogation." she finished and headed to the exit. "Wakagi, do me a favor and check with any witnesses to confirm any of the claims from before. And officer, get me a detailed report on what exactly the girl was covered in." The men nodded before all three left together, Natsuna turned left in the hall and entered the interrogation room.

Taking a seat opposite the girl Natsuna realized why no one else had started the questioning. The smell coming off her suit had filled the room and was becoming a bitter stench, it was almost too unpleasant to sit across from.

"Hello, young lady." Natsuna said curtly.

Usagi sat stone faced, eyes half-closed, rocking so slow it was if she was sitting still. Her hands were locked between her legs, her fingers digging into the backs of her hands.

"My name is Sakurada Natsuna, the Superintendent of Police." she said, taking notice of the girl's defensive position. Turning back to the mirror Natsuna sighed and decided to drop the police act. "I don't know _who _you are, but I know what you are." she quickly whispered.

Usagi blinked.

"I work with a man, named Kalla, you know him don't you?" Natsuna asked hopefully, wanting a familiar name to spark a conversation between them.

Minutes ticked by on the clock and Natsuna was growing impatient. Usagi had done little but sway in her seat and occasionally shiver at the biting chill of the interrogation room.

Wakagi had stopped in and dropped off a few files, but Natsuna hadn't bothered to open them.

"There's nothing you want to say to me, is there?" she guessed. With a long sigh she stood from the table and moved to the wall, to a phone mounted there. "I'll call Kalla to come take you home." Natsuna said, resting the phone between her shoulder and ear. "I'm here though, Usagi, and I may not understand everything that's going on, but I can help."

* * *

"Zoisite, Nephrite, glad to see you have returned." Beryl said.

The two generals stood at the entrance to a cavernous room, round like a castle tower. In the center of the room were five massive stone thrones, placed flush with the walls.

Two of the seats were occupied, the one opposite the door was taken by Beryl and to her right sat a man dressed in a uniform similar to the other generals, albeit with a cape and ornate shoulder designs on his shoulders.

"Kunizite." Zoisite said happily, stepping into the room, to the center of the thrones.

Kunzite turned his head slowly, his eyes focusing on Zoisite's missing limb. "Zoisite." his voice evident of his concern.

He slipped out of his throne and moved forward in a surreal regally motion, meeting with the general. Like his comrades, Kunzite had striking features. His skin was a rich brown chroma, the flesh popped compared to the sterling white hair, tinted with an undertone of pale green. His eyes were a rich brown that shone in the natural light filling the room.

He met with Zoisite, took his face in his large hands, and kissed his waiting lips.

"It's just an arm." Zoisite smiled; the contact seemed to changed his posture and demeanor, turning him into buoyant child. "Nothing that can't be replaced."

He smiled back. "Nothing stops you, does it?"

He brushed his cheeks before turning his chocolate eyes to Nephrite. "I see you are without injury." Kunizite said in an almost accusatory tone. He stepped back, his hand meeting Zoisite's as he led him to his seat, the throne to the right of his.

"Yes." Nephrite nodded and headed to his throne, on Beryl's left.

"You see, Nephrite?" Beryl turned to the generals and smiled like an approving mother. "Zoisite has proved his use to you."

"He has." he agreed, shifting back in his throne, his eyes glancing to the empty throne on his left.

Beryl sighed. "I'm pleased that this plan of yours worked well, Nephrite; however, I would like a full report."

"I successfully drained our target of her energy during her peak." Nephrite flashed a brilliant smile and extended his arm. At the base of his wrist a blue light emerged, taking form into airy ball of energy. "As you can see, this is the exact amount I promised you."

"You're too modest." Beryl smiled, her eyes shining at the energy. "This is _much_ more than I expected."

"I feel the same way, I was surprised he managed to pull it off. I expected far less." Zoisite snickered, and Kunzite squeezed his hand.

"I expected far less from you as well." Nephrite said dryly. He shared a smile with Zoisite before looking back to Beryl. "The Warriors and the Guard were trouble, but he managed to hold most of them off while I completed the soul release."

Beryl raised her thin eyebrows. "Most?"

"Warrior Moon was, persistent." Nephrite sighed. "She followed me, but the sight of the woman in danger seemed to make her freeze."

"If she was with you, who attacked you, Zoisite?" Beryl asked, nodding to the general's wound.

"Artemis." Zoisite replied coldly. "His mastery over magic often proves to be troublesome. He came to the rescue of two human girls that we ambushed."

"Who were they?" Beryl questioned, appearing barely interested.

"It seems Moon planned on having her fellow Warriors exit the Hall through the back, that's what the Experiments said. So when those girls came out of the building..."

"How interesting..." Beryl said. "Was it them?"

Zoisite shrugged. "They denied it of course, I expected them to transform, but Artemis appeared soon after."

"Where did the Experiments get such a tip?" Kunzite asked.

"He said the Warrior herself told him." he said. "But the clones were destroyed by Mani before they could tell me who were they were destroyed." he finished before anyone could ask. "I do remember their faces though, when I'm better we can begin searching for them."

Beryl nodded in approval. "Head to the infirmary, Zoisite." she said, nodding to Kunzite to join him.

The duo watched the couple leaving, choosing to walk to the healing room rather than transport themselves there.

"Will you take him on future missions?" Beryl asked, titling her head to Nephrite.

He nodded. "He was far more useful than I imagined. My next goal will be to lure out the Warriors to find their true identities. If Zoisite follows through and investigates the two humans he encountered, with both of our efforts focused on this, the odds we'll find the Warriors increases greatly."

* * *

**Monday, October 18th **

"Here you are, Mako." Ikuko said, leading Makoto into her daughter's room.

Makoto bowed her head as she entered the room. Ikuko smiled before closing the door, giving a worried glance to the room. Usagi had been curled up her in bed for the past day and even refused to eat.

"Hey, Usagi." Makoto said cheerfully, easing down onto the edge of Usagi's table. "You awake?"

From the bed came a faint groan followed by subtle stirring under the sheets.

"Wake up sleepy head." Makoto cooed, nudging a lump under the covers she assumed was the girl's butt. "C'mon, get up!"

After several more failed attempts to get a reaction Makoto sighed. "Usagi, I know you're down about what happened, but you can't let this stop you." Makoto said, pulling on the covers before she exposed the top of the girls body. "Usagi, look at me." she said and pulled on Usagi's shoulder and making the girl roll onto her back. "You've got to get back up and keep fighting. I know what you're going through."

"Do you Mako?" Usagi asked in an airy voice, one that came with not speaking for nearly two full days. "Have you ever held someone and watched them die in your arms? Oh wait, neither have I, because Ms. Akiyama EXPLODED in my arms!" Usagi bayed, snapping her neck in Makoto's direction. "You don't know what I'm feeling Mako, there's no way you could..." she whined

Makoto swallowed hard, dark circles had made a home under Usagi's eyes and her skin had lost any of its natural glow. "Fine, you're right, I don't know and I'm really sorry for saying I did." Makoto said, rising to her feet.

"But I'll tell you what I do know. I know Minako is at home resting with a mild concussion because of the advice you gave us to leave the contest. Those Experiments you trusted? They told Zoisite everything, he was waiting for us."

"I'm sorry..."

Makoto walked around the room in circles. "If it hadn't been for Artemis we might have died, or had our covers blown."

Usagi rubbed her sore eyes, rubbing away eye crust. "I said I was sorry..."

Makoto stopped to yank open the curtains, flooding the room in light. "I also know that Rei almost died from blood loss because she was alone on that rooftop. One of those Experiments _you_ trusted got to her, and now she's receiving non-stop blood transfusions at the hospital from her poor grandpa."

"All those people in the Hall died from what the news is calling an infestation of black widows." Makoto continued mournfully.

"What about Naru?" Usagi croaked. "She was there, where is she?!"

"Home, safe and sound. She left the Hall before the winner was announced." Makoto assured. "But, Luna's gone, Artemis is a mess and I know for a fact Nephrite and Zoisite survived and they aren't curled up in their beds feeling sorry for themselves."

Usagi bit down onto her lip but kept still. She knew everything Makoto said was true, and this was all her fault. If only she could understand that's exactly why she didn't want to try anymore.

"Wait." Usagi said and sat up in bed. "Luna's gone, what does that mean?"

"Luna..." she said, nearly choking on her own words. "Artemis said her body was taken back to the Guard's headquarters."

Usagi shuddered at her tone and choice of words. Her silence stayed, waiting for anything else Makoto had to say.

"I went back with them, and Mani told me when they found Luna, she wasn't breathing and didn't have a pulse." she continued glumly. "He told me they would do everything they could... but that it doesn't look good. Luna's..."

For a moment Usagi was deafened again as the sound faded from her room and the colours drained away into grey.

She lost feeling In her limbs and her world seemed to be moving in slow motion. She watched Makoto's mouth continue to move, but whatever she said was lost in the grey void around them. Time clicked away on her clock and her senses returned to her.

"D – Dead?" Usagi muttered unknowingly.

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty Five

* * *

Next, after their failed mission the girls take time to recover and rest while the Guard deals with a failure of their own. Nephrite uncovers a weakness for most girls and sets his plan in motion to lure in the Warriors. While he has feelings for Naru, will he find a new use for her? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Twenty Six - Rest and Relaxation**


	26. Rest and Relaxation

**Cosmic Warriors**

**Disclaimer: **All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about throughout the story.

**Note:** Thank you to ericaphoenix16, LoveInTheBattleField, avesiji, BelieveInUs, DonovanX, and StaticLove21 for reviewing. Thank you to sweetortonlover86 for following and adding Cosmic Warriors to their favorites.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Six - Rest and Relaxation**

* * *

**Monday Night, October 18th**

From her throne Beryl strained her eyes to see rows of black spiders marching into her chamber. They paused several feet before her as their bodies split in half, blue energy leaking out from the halve and floating into the ceiling. Thousands of them had been moving into her chamber all evening long, creating a massive wall of levitating energy wisps.

Noticing Nephrite's energy signal at the entrance to her room Beryl sat back in her seat. "You've come with information on your next assignment?"

"Yes, my Queen." Nephrite said, stepping on rows of spiders and forcing energy out of their bodies as he progressed to Beryl. "I mentioned that the human world is obsessed with idols and public figures, Sailor V being a prime example."

Beryl stiffened at the mention of the heroine, although she had been low lately compared to the past few years, the threat was still out there.

Nephrite nodded, acknowledging Beryl's discontent they never actually killed V. "Like her, this man is another figure whose actions the citizens of Tokyo follow." Extending an arm a ball of light appeared above Nephrite's palm, in it form a whirling image of the mask thief, Tuxedo Mask.

"Who is he, what does he have to do with anything?"

"Tuxedo Mask." Nephrite said, dropping his hand which caused the image to fade out. "I did a telepathy scan of the city, since the incident at Juuban Hall the image of his man and his name have gone through nearly 87% of the citizens minds. More than half of those thoughts were from the minds of adolescent and teenage girls."

Beryl nodded, lacing her fingers in her lap. "How can we use this man to our advantage?"

"His identity is unknown, everyone loves an enigma. I can create a decoy of him to lure in the girls in the surrounding area, when they're all together I will test them, seeking out the Warriors."

"Test them?"

Nephrite smirked and pulled a golden gem from within his jacket pocket. "My latest Experiment, one I'll set loose once I have the girls gathered. The real Warriors will have to reveal themselves then to not only save themselves, but to keep others from dying." he said.

"Didn't you say you had plans for some girl in the Azabu district?" Beryl asked.

"Yes, she's still a work in process." Nephrite said. "I will question her to see if she knows the identities of the Warriors. If I haven't received information from her about the Warriors after a week, I will proceed with my plan to lure in the girls."

Beryl's approval of his plan faded in his ears as Nephrite's body was pulled from her chamber. His body twisted into a corkscrew before his ears popped and he fell onto the ballroom floor in his mansion.

Without wasting time Nephrite stood tall and straightened his jacket. "Astral goddesses." he said and three whirls of light appeared in the air. "Visualization of the radius covered by my telepathy scan." he commanded.

The three lights swirled down to the floor, crashing against it and rebounded back. Moving around each other the lights began to spread and take on the shape of a city.

Standing in the center of the airy light model of Azabu-Juuban, Nephrite eyed the miniature buildings around him. "Highlight the homes of minds affected by the scan." At the base of nearly all residential buildings a red outline formed. "Excellent."

* * *

**7:06 am – Tuesday, October 19th**

As Kenji strolled out of his bedroom, at the end of the hallway his son appeared, darting up the staircase. "Whoa, where's the fire?" Kenji joked as Shingo sprinted past him, skidding to a stop so fast the carpet curled under his feet.

"Wake up!" Shingo shouted, banging on Usagi's door. "Wake up, dummy!"

"Shingo." Kenji addressed his son in a berating tone.

"Dad..." Shingo whimpered and began hopping from foot to foot. "One of Usagi's friends is here, she made pancakes!"

"Which friend?"

"Makotooooo..." Shingo sang. Kenji's eyebrows shot up, out of all of Usagi's friends it was no surprise Makoto was by far the best cook. He nodded in approval of his son's anticipation for wanting the girl's breakfast. "Mom said I had to wake dummy up before I could have any of her pancakes!"

Kenji rubbed his chin, taking a moment to get a good whiff of the armor in the house. Sure enough it was the unmistakable smell of light and fluffy pancakes.

"Head on down, I'll get her up." Kenji said, nodding off towards the stairs. "Uh – sweetie?" he said in his most pleasant tone before tapping on the door. "Your friend Makoto is here. She made us breakfast, isn't that nice?

As the sound of her father's voice and his tapping on the door mixed together Usagi stirred under her sheets.

"Usagi?" He continued tapping until he noticed the bronze knob turning at his waist. His eyes opened wide, surprised she was opening the door instead of just yelling through it that she was getting up.

Usagi opened the door, dressed in light purple shirt with a cartoon bunny head on it, that was two sizes too big. The groggy blonde slapped a hand over her mouth before yawning. "Hmmn?" Usagi blinked several times ahead of rubbing her eyes

"G'morning..."

"Good morning sweetheart." Kenji beamed before ushering Usagi out of her room and wrapping an arm around her back.

"Mako's here?" she asked drearily, stumbling down the hall.

Kenji hummed his response as they headed down the stairs. "How are you feeling dear? You've been in bed since you came home Saturday night."

Usagi mentally cursed her father. Not only did she not know what lie to tell them, she wasn't sure if she could even come up with a reason that justified her behavior.

After being dropped off by Kalla she muttered a few apologies for coming home late and dragged herself to bed. She's only left the comfort of her room to use the bathroom and occasionally grab something to eat.

She couldn't explain how she felt; the pain, perhaps because it didn't stem from a physical injury. The sting from the explosion faded at the police station, but what replaced it was far worse. The realization of the depth of her failure kept coming the more she thought on it.

The women in the contest, dead. Ms. Akiyama, dead. Makoto's visit yesterday morning only made things worse. She was left with the knowledge she'd gotten Minako attacked and put everyone in danger and possibly caused Luna her life.

Each time she closed her eyes she was dropped into an ocean, face first in the midst of a spin. The sting of the explosion burned her limbs; the water filled her lungs, halting any cries for help. The water turned black and grew heavy; guilt crushed her and the desperation dragged her down deeper. She was losing sight of the light and was lost in the depths.

When she opened her eyes she was saved from the water, like being washed up on a shore. Occasional hits from returning waves reminded her of the pain before it all faded away.

"I'm fine, papa..." she lied, wrapped her arms around his mid-section for a quick hug as they turned into the dining room.

"Hey, Usagi!" Makoto said stepping out of the kitchen with a skillet and Ikuko's spatula in hand.

Usagi inhaled deeply, the smell of sweet pancakes and syrup filled her lungs. She sighed, a content sigh, before she gave Makoto the biggest smile she could muster, which wasn't very much. "Morning, Mako."

"Good morning sweetheart." her mother finished placing a large plate carrying bacon down on the table when she spotted her husband and daughter.

Usagi sustained her smile, turning it in her mom's direction. "This smells great, Mako. You didn't have to come over again though..." she lied. Being the second day in a row Makoto had stopped by Usagi actually was grateful to see her friend. It was a sign things weren't as bad as her nightmares made them out to be.

"She's up, can we eat now?!" Shingo asked shrilly, squirming in his seat.

Makoto smiled and flipped one last pancake onto a stack already on the table. "Enjoy everyone." she stepped back and dropped a hand onto her hip, pleased with her work. Living alone she didn't often get the chance to cook a full breakfast like this.

By the time the rest of the Tsukinos and their guest took their seats Shingo was already stuffing his face with bacon sandwiched between two pancakes.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Makoto." Ikuko said. "I can't remember the last time I didn't have to cook the entire meal."

"You had a couple years before we got married." Kenji joked, grabbing his coffee mug.

The spouses shared a laugh as Makoto eased herself down into a seat beside Usagi. "No problem, you have such a big kitchen. I should be thanking you."

Usagi sat still, watching Shingo devour his plate of food before chugging down a cup of juice. She tilted her head towards her lap and smiled, enjoying the sight of her brother's innocence.

"You girls must be enjoying this week off of school." Kenji said, shaking his newspaper out to hold it up straight. "But it's such a tragic thing, what happened at the Hall."

Usagi shifted in her seat, taking in a deep breath through her nostrils.

Makoto looked towards Usagi and took the hint that she wasn't comfortable talking about it. "They had a memorial service at the school last night, for Ms. Akiyama."

"Oh, that's nice..." Ikuko sighed, leaning against her hand. "Usagi, you should have gone.

"I know mama, I just – wasn't feeling good..." Usagi said meekly, giving her mother a weak smile.

"I know honey..." Ikuko said before she reached out to take Usagi's hand, she rubbed her thumb across her knuckles and gave her a comforting smile. "How's Luna doing?"

Without realizing it Usagi yanked her hand away, hitting her elbow against her chair back.

"Something wrong, Usagi?"

"Why'd you ask about Luna?" Usagi asked.

"I was bringing Shingo's clothes to his room and I heard you girls talking about Luna yesterday." Ikuko said with a nod to Kenji.

Usagi glanced to her father. She thought the nod meant they'd been talking about Luna yesterday, and Makoto's visit.

"Is everything alright, with Luna? She wasn't at the Hall was she?"

Usagi furrowed her brow and felt her eyes begin to burn.

Makoto glanced to Usagi again. "Luna's fine, she's just sick." she answered easily. "We haven't seen her in a few days though, and we were worried she wasn't getting better like she told us."

Ikuko gave a short shrug before she picked up her fork, slicing her pancakes into small pieces. "But everything else is fine with her, right, Usagi?"

Usagi swallowed hard and nodded.

"I was going to go visit her today, you want to come, Usagi?" Makoto asked.

Usagi whipped her head to Makoto, looking at the girl with wide eyes. "Really?"

Makoto wet her lips and nodded, giving Usagi a look that suggested she not act so surprised. "Yeah, I called earlier and her roommate said I could come over, they wouldn't mind if you tagged along."

Usagi smiled and slipped out of her chair, heading towards the hallway. "I guess I should go and get ready..."

"What about breakfast?" Ikuko asked, noticing Usagi hadn't even touched her plate.

"Put it in the microwave!" Usagi shouted back to the dining room as she headed to the stairs.

In her room she fell back against the door and took in a deep breath. "Please be okay, Luna..."

* * *

**7:57 am**

"How's my hair?"

"It's fine, but would you please put on a bra, ma?!"

Mayumi waved off her daughter's remark and turned to face her vanity's mirror. Turning her head side to side she gave her up do' one last look over, making sure each fire red wave was tucked in place into a bun on the crown of her head.

"Seriously!" Naru urged, hurling one of her mom's brassieres at her.

Getting her mother dressed for her morning date with a man she met at the coffee shop was proving to be stressful. Naru looked down, only a circle of carpet could be seen around her feet under the layers of dresses and blouses they'd gone through, all to find the perfect outfit for the date.

"What do you think I should wear?" Mayumi asked after hoisting her assets up. She watched Naru crouch down and sift through the clothes to find enough pieces to make a whole ensemble. "Oh! What about that dress!" she gasped, and spun around in her seat, pointing to a short purple zip-up dress Naru just tossed aside.

"Ma, you always wear purple..." Naru reminded, looking to the dress she had purposefully thrown behind her. "What about pink, or red?"

Mayumi cast her daughter a look that conveyed the message of "pass me the dress", because that's exactly what Naru ended up doing.

"If it isn't broke, don't fix it." Mayumi said as she slipped into the dress. "Zip me up honey?"

Naru climbed past a mound of shoes to zip up the dress as Mayumi began to pick through assorted jewelery on her ivory vanity table.

"The emeralds." Naru said, noticing her mother was having trouble deciding which accessories to add. "In gold."

Mayumi plucked up two earrings, thick emerald gems set in a thin gold setting, and started to slip the first in. "Thanks honey." she said with a smile before putting in the second.

Naru reached around and grabbed the gold beaded necklace, with an emerald center, and placed it around her mother's neck.

Naru's eyes lit up as something she heard Masato mention clicked in her mind. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, was is it?" Mayumi asked, turning to the side and rubbing out some bunches in her dress. "You want to borrow something?"

Naru responded with a soft chuckle. She never asked to borrow her mother's jewelery, instead she stuck into her room and took what she needed and put it back as soon as she got home from school. "No, uh, you ever hear about something called, the Silver Crystal?"

"THE silver crystal? Is that its title?" Mayumi asked, picking up her mascara brush and dragging it up her lashes. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"It's like, a diamond, and looks kind of like a - a..." Naru tried to jog her mom's memory, but was quickly came up blank when she remembered Masato had never actually mentioned what the Crystal looked like, only that he would like to find it.

"Like a what?"

"Uh, nothing, forget I mentioned it." Naru said with a nervous chortle.

"Eef youu say soo." Mayumi said as she ran a tube of lipstick around her mouth. "How do I look?" she asked as she turned, showing Naru the finished product.

Naru smiled, it wasn't rare to see her mother dressed up, running a jewelery store she took pride in her appearance and how she presented herself. What _was_ rare, was her going out on a date. Since her father left them two years after she was born Naru had only seen her mom go out with two other men, and neither of those occasions had happened since the mid 80's.

"You look totally hot!" squealed Naru. Mayumi responded by slapping her cheeks and giggling like a schoolgirl. "Your date is going to die when he sees you!"

Mayumi's laugh died away and she quickly sighed. "Naru, are you sure you're okay with being here by yourself?" Mayumi asked, her tone indicating this was a serious question. "I mean you have the whole week off from school, we could make a girls week out of it!"

"Don't worry about me," Naru said, plopping down onto her mother's bed. "I'll be fine."

"You sure?" Mayumi asked and Naru nodded. "I just worry about you, between the break-in last month and what happened at the Hall, I just can't believe our neighborhood is turning into such a dangerous place."

"You have no idea..." Naru murmured, tilting her head down.

"Do you want to come to breakfast with us?" Mayumi offered.

Naru chuckled before shaking her head, she appreciated the offer, but she had plans of her own. "This is a date ma, not an awkward daughter-third wheel situation. I'll be okay, just going to get some homework done and watch some movies. Besides I'm sure your date would be uncomfortable, it's hard enough to impress one Osaka woman, he can't handle two!"

As if on cue a bell followed by a man's voice could be heard from downstairs. The Osaka women's faces lit up in excitement that Mayumi's date had arrived.

"Oooh he's right on time!" Naru giggled, checking her watch and seeing the man had arrived exactly at eight like he promised.

Mayumi took a deep breath, gave herself one last look over in the mirror before she headed towards the door, giving it her best supermodel walk.

Naru beamed before noticing her mother's bare feet. "Oh, ma! Your heels!" Naru practically dove into the pile of shoes and managed to dig out a pair of matching purple pumps.

"That's embarrassing..." Mayumi said as Naru tossed one of the shoes her way. In the doorway Mayumi slipped the first one before Naru threw the second. "Thanks honey!"

Naru gave her mother a thumbs-up before she disappeared off down the hall. As she picked herself up from the flattered shoe pile Naru listed to her mother clumping down the stairs, followed by her squeal of excitement, a sign she had reached the front room and had seen her date.

Naru darted over the wall of windows, glancing onto the street. Below, the man whose name she remembered was Visu, just opened the car door for her mom. Naru heard her mother's nervous laugh from two stories up as she entered the car.

Naru sighed happily, sliding down onto the window sill as Visu entered the car, the vehicle roaring to life a moment later before they pulled off. For no one's benefit but her own Naru waved the car off like one might send off a cruise ship.

"She's going on a date... and so am I." Naru said, turning to face her mother's vanity with a hoard of jewelery still laying across it. "Diamonds, rubies, emeralds!" she said with a greedy laugh as she started slipping on rings and bracelets.

After her moment of indulgence Naru rid herself of all the things she had put on, pulling out two small red earrings. Once they were in she surveyed herself in her mother's mirror, red shoes, thigh-high black socks, red skirt, pea green tank top. In her hair her wore a large green bow that kept most of her hair back, and showcased the earrings.

In the middle of some last minute follicle adjustment the bell on OSA-P's front door went off. Naru's heart did a somersault and the girl darted out the room. With one hand on the staircase railing, Naru held her other hand to her chest, anticipating the moment she saw him.

Her smile widened as she turned into the main room and crossed the floor. "He must be outside with the car..." Naru hoped, noticing she was alone in the show room as she pushed open the front door.

"Hey, Naru!" Like the plastic rodent from a whack-a-mole game, Umino popped up before her, causing the girl to shriek and leap back.

"U-UMINO?!" she shrieked, again.

"Heh, who else?" he asked, pushing his coke-bottle glasses up on his nose.

Anyone else, thought Naru.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, raising onto her tip toes to peek around his head, hoping to see Masato waiting somewhere in eye sight.

Umino beamed and held up a plastic bag. "We have the whole week off from school, but it's important not to let our brains suffer. So, I rented a movie about the history of long division, I thought we could watch it together."

Naru cocked up an eyebrow, could a movie as awful as that actually exist? "Actually Umino, I'm feeling... a little sick... I think I'm just going to stay in my room today." For good measure, Naru coughed several times into her fist. "I don't want to get you sick, I know how your mom freaks out if you get sick."

Umino's mouth quivered like a wiggling snake. "Eh – alright then." Umino said before covering his mouth. "Maybe we can watch it some other time."

"Totally." Naru said before stepping back into OSA-P. "I'll see ya later, Umino."

"See ya." Umino said as he turned and strolled off down the sidewalk. "I hope Naru gets better soon... Maybe Usagi will watch it with me." he muttered with his chin in his hand, head turned to the pavement under him. Had he been looking up he might have seen the red sportscar zooming towards him as he crossed the street.

When the car's horn blared out, altering Umino to its close proximity to him, the boy let out a scream akin to a little girls' before he fell back onto the side walk. The car made a sharp turn, the back end fishtailing around the street before he sped off, stopping on a dime in front of OSA-P.

"I could have died." Umino gulped, beads of sweat racing down his forehead like rain drops on glass. "W-Who was that?" Umino craned his neck around and saw the driver emerge and wait by the passenger side door.

He adjusted his glasses again, trying to get a figure on what he was doing, or waiting for. His answer came in the form of Naru leaping out of OSA-P and into the waiting arms of the driver. The scene quickly became uncomfortable as the two embraced each other, taking the time to engage in a more than PG-13 make out session on the street.

"That man... he's going to catch Naru's cold if they keep that up." he mumbled as the driver opened the passenger door and Naru got inside. "I thought she was sick...!"

The driver paused, turning his attention to Umino and the boy vanished from his spot, crawling around the corner out of eye sight.

While shielded by a building Umino listed to the car that almost hit him rev up before peeling away from the curb. Once he was sure they were gone he poked his head out and furrowed his brow. "Who was that?"

* * *

**9:26 am**

"He's just been sitting there since he came back Saturday night."

"Poor guy."

Usagi, Makoto, and Desi were watching Artemis from the end of the waiting hall outside Losna's lab. The ivory haired man sat against the wall, hunched over with his arms dangling between his legs. Even separated by the stretch of hallway the girls could tell he was still dressed in his battle armor.

As Makoto and Desi started up a conversation about the duty of Protectors Usagi tuned them both out as a man appeared at the end of the hallway. Usagi recognized his abnormal height, pushed back brown hair, and glasses.

"Soma." she muttered.

Usagi watched in anxiety as Soma started up a conversation with Artemis, whatever it was he said it got Artemis off the ground. She was still somewhat in the dark as to what happened to Luna, but upon hearing Artemis gasp - and watching him embrace Soma in a hug - caused her curiosity to spike.

Usagi turned to the hallway behind her, Desi and Makoto had strolled halfway down it and were kicking a vending machine. "Desi!"

"What is it, kid?"

"C'mere." she hissed, waving them both towards her. "That man, what's his position?" she asked, pointing towards Soma.

He was dressed in the typical Protector uniform, but wore a long white coat, like a doctor, over it. Usagi racked her brain back to her previous meetings with the Guard and as hard as she tried she couldn't remember Soma being a part of the science and research team.

"He works for the Division of Publicity, he used to work under Jarilo." Desi said. "But since Jar's disappearance Soma's become a Global Protector."

"Publicity?" Makoto asked. "What kind of job is that?"

"It's his job to keep the public unaware of what's really happening. He has ins at all of the new stations to keep certain things off the news and out of the paper. All of the messes you girls make in your fights, Soma and his Division take care of it all." Desi said sternly, intimating the girls thank Soma for cleaning up after them.

"So what's he doing here?" Usagi asked.

"Soma's a master in poisons and toxins. Luna's body was covered in bites from spiders, black widows, they were crawling all over the Hall according to the report." Desi shuttered. "Losna and Dr. Mizuno brought him for Luna's examination to see if there was anything that could be done about the large amount of venom in her system."

"Can he save her?!" Usagi asked, loud enough that Soma and Artemis turned their attention to their end of the hall.

"I have saved her." Soma said, his words echoing across the tiles. "Luna's vitals are stable, she's resting now."

Unknowingly, Usagi moved down the hall towards the men, Makoto and Desi close on her heels. "What? You saved her?! I thought she was, dead."

Usagi looked to Artemis, the man's eyes were red and glistening with fresh tear lines running down his face.

The group in hall stood in uneasy silence as Soma slipped off his glasses, taking his time to clean off the lenses. "She received an almost unimaginable number of bites from the spiders, as did the other contest guests. But I've made all the Protectors undergo mithridatism."

"Mith-Mithri-"

"Mithridatism. It's the process of building up a defence against poisons, venoms, and toxins by injecting yourself with small, non-lethal, amounts over time." Soma explained, slowly, for Usagi's benefit. "This was a common practice I started for Lunarians that traveled to Earth where disease and illness are more common."

"So, she's gonna be alright?" Makoto asked, eager to get to the good news.

Soma smiled and nodded. "Yes. I don't blame Artemis for believing her to be dead. To put it simply the large amount of venom in her system was combating against the immunity she has built up. During that conflict her body shut down to reserve strength, her heart slowed to a small beat less than once a minute. By removing the venom her body is able to function normally again, she's resting, but she will make a full recovery soon enough."

Usagi's head snapped back and streams of tears came from her ears like water from fire hoses. "Thank you!" she cried, throwing herself into Soma's arms.

Makoto chuckled, wiping the corners of her own eyes before she was embraced by Desi in a hug. Artemis dropped his head and gave off his own mix of a laugh and cry.

* * *

**3:48 pm**

"You can come in." Soma said, sticking his head out from Luna's room.

Usagi, who had been leaning against Makoto - who was flipping through home and garden magazines- shot up in her seat. She, Makoto, and Artemis had decided to wait for Luna to wake up, deciding they wanted to be there for that moment. It had been six hours and Usagi had fallen asleep twice, but it was worth it.

With jittery nerves she hopped up and started to whimper as she poked her head around the room. She was met with a fleeting depressing atmosphere. Considering this was going to be Luna's death bed, she wasn't surprised.

Soma headed over to the wall of windows, pulling on the blinds to allow light into the room. Even that small act seemed to change the air in the room, and Usagi felt her spirits begin to lift.

Seeing as how Luna hadn't acknowledged the four people in the room yet Usagi guessed she'd fallen back asleep. Gingerly, Usagi eased down on the corner of the bed. Looking down to her feet she began to fiddle her thumbs.

Behind her she listened to a machine beep every few seconds that monitored Luna's heart rate. She turned to the machine and followed the jumping green line with her eyes. She didn't know much about the machine, but if what she'd seen on television was accurate; the leaps and dips the monitor was showing was a good sign for Luna.

With a look at Luna's face, sleeping contently, but still appearing to be in discomfort, something hit her. This wasn't a game.

The memory of her first fight came back to her, the fear and terror she felt clashing blades with Experiment-D-U-D. The realization she basically in a scene from a Sailor V game, but unlike a game if she got hurt it wasn't a game over. This was her life, and now Luna's life.

Her poor judgment and planning had gotten several of her allies hurt, and nearly got Luna killed. Luna, the woman that gave her the power to protect her friends.

It was a painful reminder that this was her life now. One wrong choice could result in the death of all her friends, or her family.

"Usagi...?" Luna said as she shifted back in her bed, struggling to sit up. "Mako, Artem-"

Before Luna could finish addressing those around her, a pair of arms wrapped around her neck and the weight of a body dropped onto her.

All she could see was a blond, golden hair, as Usagi tackle hugged her. "OOOHH LUNA, YOU'RE OKAY!" Usagi weeped, her tears dropping into the crook of Luna's neck, forming a pool there.

Makoto moved in, crouched down beside the bed and wrapped Luna's hand, squeezing it tightly. Artemis made his place on the other side of the bed, planting a kiss on top of Luna's head that surprised the woman.

"Did you miss me?" she asked and Usagi responded by modulating her crying level up a few decimals.

-F-

Zoisite sighed happily. He looked over his newly repaired arm and hand and smiled. The scientists had made quick work of attaching a new arm and Zoisite wasted no time in putting it to use. He glanced over to the man sleeping beside him, Kunzite's long sterling hair was sprayed out across the pillow.

Zoisite rolled over, resting his head on the man's shoulder and resting his hand on his chest. He smiled and brought himself closer to the man, he wanted to be as close to him as possible to share in the afterglow of sex.

Kunizite hummed and a smile played across his lips as Zoisite began to run his fingers in his circles. "You're warm."

Zoisite smirked before he rolled on top, straddling the general under him. "It's hot in here..." he breathed, leaning forward to plant a kiss on his lips.

Kunzite pulled back from the kiss, tasting something unfamiliar. "Your lip." he said.

Zoisite stretched his lower lip before dragging his tongue across it, wincing as it ran over a split in his lip.

"Did I do that?" Kunzite asked sweetly, cupping Zoisite's cheeks.

Zoisite frowned. "No, not you. The heat..."

"Nephrite told me you've been mentioning the heat lately, are you feeling alright?" Kunzite asked, it was foolish to complain about heat considering their location so far north.

* * *

**8:16 pm**

A dark red rental car whizzed down the slick streets of Tokyo, passing under the glow of yellow street lights that flanked the road. In the front Motoki and Reika chattered back and forth about street names and the time, while Mamoru slipped in and out of slumber in the backseat.

Coming to a red light Motoki dropped his elbows onto the steering wheel and rubbed his eyes. "Are you sure you gave me the right address, Mamo?" Motoki leaned forward to look as far ahead out of his rain splattered windshield as he could. "We're heading out of the city..."

Reika shook her head and held the map up to the window, using the streetlights to help her find the road she had been looking for earlier.

"Yes, I'm sure." Mamoru said groggily, folding his arms behind his head and glancing out of the window. "But if you don't want to go you can drop me off on the corner."

Reika smiled and pat Mamoru on his knee. "Don't be silly, Mamo, we want you to come with us. Right?" she asked to Motoki who sat back in his seat as the light flashed green.

"Absolutely, I can't think of a better way to spend tonight than with my girlfriend and my best friend."

Mamoru's eyes shifted from the passing buildings to the front of the car. "Spending the night alone doesn't sound better?" he muttered.

"My girlfriend is in town, Mamo, I can't be alone with you anymore." Motoki beamed.

Mamoru smirked and held back his laugh when he caught Reika's nervous glance in the rear view mirror. "I just figured after being away for so long, and only having a month to be together, you'd want to spend as much time with each other as possible."

"A month? What?" Motoki asked.

"Before Reika leaves for Africa." Mamoru answered quickly.

"Mamoru!" Reika's eyes flared with anger in the rear view mirror. She was too upset to form anymore words at that moment. "UGH!"

"Heh, I guess I let the cat out of the bag, huh?" replied Mamoru.

"What? I'm confused, what about Africa?" Motoki asked and involuntarily slammed his foot on the petal and zoomed off the stretch of road ahead of them.

"Africa! What?"

Reika turned in her seat to glare weakly at Mamoru as Motoki slowed the car. "Well, I was offered an internship in Africa as part of an excavation dig."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Motoki asked, looking back to Mamoru whose attention was focused out the window. "That's really great baby, I know you've always wanted to go there."

"I wanted to wait until I was sure if I wanted to go." Reika smiled and laid her arm onto the armrest between the seats, turning her palm up.

Motoki returned the smile and laced his fingers with hers. "You've always wanted to go." he reminded. "What's there to think about?"

"You." Reika said sweetly, clutching his hand tighter.

"Don't worry about me, I'm not going anywhere."

"That's my point. You're just here; working for your family, you won't be doing anything."

Mamoru winced.

"You don't want to me with someone who only works at an arcade?" Motoki asked, trying to separate their hands.

Reika's expression dropped. "That's not what I meant... I just find it hard to believe you're really okay with me leaving for Africa, and leaving you here."

"I'll be fine, I want you to be happy and I know you've dreamt of doing things like this all your life."

Reika smiled again as the car slowed at another red light. She cupped his hand before bringing it to her lips. "I'm happy being here with you."

Mamoru dropped his head back against the seat and made gagging sounds.

"I couldn't live with myself knowing I was the reason you didn't pursue your dreams."

Reika's expression fell again, irritation is what replaced joy. "Don't worry about my dreams, there are tons of digs all over the world, there's only one you, and you're here, in Japan."

"Because I'm never doing anything important huh? Just working at the arcade..."

The air changed in the car. Mamoru shifted into an alert position once the realization a fight was coming hit him. He tapped his fingers on the door panel, contemplating what kind of damage he would receive from rolling out of a moving car.

"Don't twist my words around like that, you know that's not what I meant!" Reika snapped, tearing her hand away from his.

Mamoru lifted his head and sigh. "Really, if you guys need to talk, you can drop me off here. I'll find my way home, besides I think you passed the restaurant five minutes ago."

"We can't drop you off on the side of the road." Reika protested, looking out her window.

"It's fine, I know this neighborhood." Mamoru said, unfastening his seatbelt.

Motoki sighed before unlocking the car doors. "Be safe, Mamo."

Mamoru smirked before ducking out of the car door. "I could say the same to you too."

Mamoru darted across the street, using his jacket as a cover from the rain. Reaching the sidewalk he turned and waved to the car before it pulled off, making a turn.

"I have no clue where I am..." Mamoru breathed as he crammed his hands into his jacket pockets, taking shelter under a store awning.

* * *

**8:51 pm**

Usagi only had one thing on her mind, and that was getting home.

"Please stop raining!" she cried, actual tears. She hadn't assumed it would rain today and left home earlier in attire fit for the summer and had stupidly turned down Desi's offer to drive her home.

The precipitating was cold and felt like she was being pelted with rocks.

To get home as soon as possible she ran as fast as her gangly legs would carry her. She dashed down sidewalks and any alleyway that didn't look "rapey" she said in her mind. Occasionally she stepped in a puddle, splashing someone that might have been walking beside her.

She issued out a half-hearted apology when she did, ignoring the pedestrians' furious shouts. She knew whatever her mom would say if she came home late again was far worse than anything the other citizens of Tokyo could offer.

Upon reaching another alleyway, one she knew would cut her time getting home in half, she quickly darted down it. She splashed through several more puddles and sprayed her thighs with the street water before she skid to a stop, watching someone emerge from the shadows.

"Whoa." she said, as the shadow stepped between her and the exit to the alley. In their hand she saw something long, like a pipe.

Whoever – whatever – it was, it was too far away to get a good look at and Usagi wasn't chancing it. Slowly she stepped back, testing to see if the figure would try anything. After a few more test steps she whipped around and dashed back down the alley.

THUD!

Usagi coughed hard as she ran into something. She fell back, her hand landing in one of the many puddles.

"Watch where you're going!" the man she ran into berated down at her.

"Ouch... I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!"

"Here, let me help you up." Another voice said to her left. Usagi shuddered feeling a large hand wrap entirely around her arm and lift her like a doll.

"T – Thanks." she stammered, from the corner of her eye she noticed the figure at the end of the alley was progressing towards them slowly, another man. "Well, I should get going." she turned to head off but the man that helped her stand threw an arm out to block her.

"Whoa, what's the hurry?" the man she ran into laughed. "Let's have some fun."

The three men swarmed on her, forcing her to back up against the wall. Usagi's knees shook and suddenly it was extremely cold. "S – Stop..." she said said dimly.

"Stop what, we haven't even started." one of them said and Usagi could hear metal hitting against metal followed by the sound of something unzipping.

"I'll scream!" she squeaked.

The men cackled before the pipe she saw earlier was slammed against the garbage can. Usagi whimpered involuntarily and shrunk down.

"How you gonna scream with your mouth full?" the largest of the three asked. "Get her arms." he commanded.

As two of the men reached out for Usagi a red flash pierced the ground between the two parties, causing the men to jolt back. Before Usagi had a chance to register what was happening three more flashes stuck themselves into the ground, forcing the men further back.

"What the hell?!" one of the man snapped. In the dark Usagi could see all them turn their heads to the night sky.

Something dark dropped before Usagi and she caught a glimpse of something dark red flap in front of her. "Are you alright?"

Usagi's body seemed to deflate at the sound of his voice. "I'm better now, Tuxedo Mask." she said as heat rushed to her cheeks.

"Who the hell are you?" one of the men asked.

Usagi poked her head around Mask's back to see the men gathering into a triangle formation. The big one was slapping the pipe against his hand and the others were cracking their knuckles.

"I'm the guy telling you to apologize to this young lady for your barbaric and unacceptable behavior." Mask said as he dug around inside his vest, pulling his staff out a moment later. He often hoped these encounters would end with a simple apology, but he knew he'd better prepare for a fight.

"Psh! What are you, my mother?"

"Lookie here, this freak in a cape thinks he can tell us what to do." one of the men said, progressing on Mask. He dared to reached a hand out for the man.

Mask lunged forward first though, and grabbed his hand, twisting it around behind his back. The man yelped before Mask jammed his knee into his gut, causing the man to groan in pain and buckle over.

"Next." Mask said and instantly tilted his head to avoid a punch to the side. Again he rammed his knee up into a man's gut before cracking his staff down onto the back of his head.

"Hey, listen. I don't want any trouble." the last, and largest, man said. He quickly let go of the pile and began to inch away from Mask. Noticing the masked man wasn't doing anything the man decided to turn and run for it.

Holding his staff out Mask released one last red dart from his staff that zipped through the alley, sticking itself into the back of the man's knee.

"OWWWWWWWWW!" he howled before fell face first into the pavement.

"Wow... He's amazing!" Usagi breathed as Mask turned back to her. "Thank you, Tuxedo Mask."

Mask smiled and tipped his hat to her. "You're very welcome. You seem to have a knack for needing my help."

Usagi smiled, her heart swelling at the fact he remembered saving her before. "You really remember me?"

Mask snickered before placing a hand on top of her head. "It's not everyday I see such a signature hairstyle, on such a pretty face." As he spoke he dragged his hand down the side of her face, his fingers stopping on her neck while his thumb rubbed against her cheek.

Usagi swayed, her cheeks burning so hot now she thought he would feel it through his gloves.

"Would you like a ride home?" He offered, stepping back from her and twirling his staff around as its length increased. Usagi nodded eagerly before she wrapped her arms around his midsection and they were propelled into the air.

As they glided over the city Usagi pressed her head into his jacket, wanting to get lost in his scent, one that was comforting and somehow familiar. During their flight she reminded herself, over and over, how lucky she was. So many of the girls at her school, and some of the boys, were in love with this masked hero. But she wondered how many of them could say they've seen him in person, let alone been saved by him?

She needed saving. Why? A cold chain wrapped around her wrist reminded Usagi of who she really was. Warrior freaking Moon, she reminded herself. Why was she acting so helpless before he showed up?

Usagi turned her head skywards, getting a look at the beautiful features of the man that had saved her. Maybe getting assaulted in an alley was worth it if meant Tuxedo Mask came to rescue her. The thought of Moon came into her mind again, could she trust him with her secret? Telling him would bring her one step closer to them being together – but, what if he didn't feel the same way?

What if he resented the fact Warrior Moon was just a clumsy blonde who fails math tests and pigs out on junk food while devoting her time to the local arcade? Would he hate her if he knew she actually was scared out of her mind each time she was forced to transform and fight? Was she a fool to think someone as brave as him would ever love someone like her?

When they landed it was on the balcony outside her window. At Usagi's request the duo remained still and quiet for several minutes, making sure their arrival hadn't made enough noise to bring attention to her room. Though she was doubting she could ever be with Tuxedo Mask, long term, she was in his arms here and now and the last thing she wanted was her father busting into her room and seeing them.

They stood, merely an inch apart from each other, for what seemed like hours. Usagi had loosened her hold on him, but refused to let go, her hands remained at his sides, grazing near his hips.

Mask gave a soft smile before he lifted a hand to her face. Usagi had seen too many romance movies because her eyes snapped shut, expecting a kiss to come. Instead glove fingers brushed away a few strands of hair that had stuck to her face during their flight.

When she opened her eyes Mask could see she was disappointed and briefly considered asking her what was wrong. Instead he cupped her face and smiled. "I'm drawn to you." he said sweetly.

Usagi's heart swelled and her eyes glistened with the promise of oncoming tears. "...To me?" Her doubts faded away, replaced by the realization that she might have a chance with this, gorgeous, sweet, man.

"To you." he repeated, rubbing her cheek again. He stroke his thumb made filled Usagi's mind with a euphoric haze. "I don't think I can explain it, but it's a wave of emotions, feelings, they come over me. And in that moment, nothing else matters, because I know I'm needed."

For the first time Usagi could clearly see the eyes behind the mask. Deep blue, like elliptic shaped oceans, and she wanted nothing more than to drown in them.

"I had that feeling tonight," he paused to laugh and Usagi responded with a giggle of her own. "I was in a shop, buying something, and that feeling came over me. I went blind for a minute and then there was a line, a sliver of light that was guiding me. Guiding me to you."

"To me..." Usagi breathed.

"Dad! Some guy is in Usagi's room!" Shingo shouted.

Every cell in Usagi's body became alert in that moment. Her panicked eyes turned to her door that blew open and in stormed Kenji, golf club in hand. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Papa!" Usagi shrieked, climbing through her window. "Put it down! It's okay!"

"Usagi, what were you doing out there?" Kenji dashed past his daughter and threw his head through the window, catching a glimpse of Tuxedo Mask dropping off the balcony, vanishing out of sight. "Get back her!"

"Shingo, you brat!" Usagi snapped, stomping her foot in her brother's direction as he sniggered from the hallway.

"What's going on...?" Ikuko asked tiredly as she emerged from her bedroom.

"Our daughter is turning into a delinquent!" Kenji wailed. "Meeting mysterious guys on her balcony at this time at night!"

"I'm not a delinquent!" Usagi cried, more upset Tuxedo Mask was scared off than anything else.

Shingo was still laughing, now at how red Usagi's face was getting. "So what were you doing out there?"

"Planning the murder of my little brother!" Usagi snapped, lunging for Shingo who reflexively took off down the hall.

"Kids, stop running!" Ikuko said through a yawn.

"Usaig, get back here. We're not done talking about this!" Kenji shouted, barreling down the hall after his children.

* * *

Makoto headed for home with the din of Tokyo's nightlife on her left and the serene ambiance of Hikawa Temple on her right. The further down the grounds high rock walls she walked, the closer she got to a dull rumbling sound.

Laying on the steps ascending to the shrine's entrance was a man in a dark suit. Makoto paused after noticing him, realizing he'd fallen asleep, using a duffel bag as a pillow against the steps.

"Hey buddy." Makoto said, kicking at his shoe. "You'll catch a cold if you sleep out here."

After another minute of snoring she gave kicking him another try. "Buddy, wake up!" Makoto shouted, moving around to his side and clutching his jacket, shaking the man awake.

"Whoa...Are you like, an angel?"

Makoto flushed at his cool and laid back tone, boyish features, and tanned face; all surrounded by a bushel of thick dark hair. "Heh, not quite. So, what are you doing out here?"

"I must've fallen asleep out here..." he said as he sat up, scratching the back of his head. "Do you like, work here?"

"At the Temple? No, I'm a friend of family that owns the place though, were you looking for them?"

"Totally! My name's Kumada Yuichiro, but all my friends call me Chad. I just got off tour and was thinking about settling down for a bit, but my dad's a total buzzkill and told me I couldn't stay at home if I wasn't performing." Yuichiro said, rising to his feet and stretching out his back. "I ran into this old man at the store the other day, he said he was looking for an apprentice and would give me a place to stay."

"Tour, performing? Are you some kind of a musician?" Makoto asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"I'm a rock star!" Yuichiro said, followed by an impromptu air guitar solo.

Makoto coughed to stifle her laughter. "So, what interest could a rock star have in temple life?"

"How bad can I be? This place is totally chill." Yuichiro said. "So like, babe, do you know where the old man is? All the temple doors are locked." he said gesturing up the steps.

"Yeah, he's at the nearest hospital, taking care of his granddaughter."

"I wish I would have known that an hour ago." a voice from the top of the steps said.

Yuichiro whipped around and strained through his bangs to see a man walking down towards him. Makoto cocked her neck out, getting a good look at the man. Like Yuichiro, he was dressed in a dark suit, but Makoto could tell the man's was tailored to fit his body, whereas Yuichiro's might have been picked up last minute at a mall.

"You said you were a friend of the family?" the man said to Makoto as he passed her, walking towards a parked black car on the street. "When you see Rei, tell her to call me."

"And just who are you?" Makoto asked sternly.

"Her father."

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty Six

* * *

Next, Nephrite's plan to lure in fans of Tuxedo Mask begins, and during a tennis match one of Nephrite's previous victims comes back to haunt the Warriors. Chaos ensues and Naru goes missing before the Warriors arrive on the scene, fueling Nephrite's suspicions the girl is hiding something. To fufil his missions and reveal the Warriors' identity, how far will Nephrite go? Find out next time.  
**Chapter Twenty Seven - Match Point**


	27. The End For Now

Usagi dropped to her knees and laid something out flat on her bed. Across the room Luna nudged the door open before she trotted across the floor and leapt onto the bed.

The feline gawked at what Usagi was doing, folding up her Warrior suit.

"Usagi, what are you doing?!"

"Folding, Mako taught me." Usagi replied dryly.

Luna grimaced. "Then tell me, why are you folding up your suit?" Luna asked, in the corner of her eye she spotted the mask laying next to her pillows. "You took off your suit, Usagi's what's going on."

"I just figured I'd better stow it away some place, I won't be needing it for a while." Usagi said, with a feigned happiness.

"Wh - what? On my way up here I heard on the news they found unusually large footprints outside a shop just a few blocks from here. That sounds like Youma activity, Warrior Moon is needed!"

"The Youma are gonna have to wait." a voice from the doorway said, it was Makoto, followed in by Minako. Makoto was swinging a plastic bag by her side and Minako carried Artemis in her ears.

"Artemis!" Luna cried, dashing off towards Minako's feet as the blonde released her cat. "What is going on?"

"Here Usagi, put your stuff in the bag." Makoto said, dropping the bag down beside her friend.

Luna gasped seeing orange and green through the white bag. "Those are your suits! Please tell me what's happening!"

"Relax Luna... You're still recovering." Artemis warned.

Usagi sighed as she stuffed her suit and mask into the bag with Makoto and Minako's. "It's not forever Luna, just for a bit.

"What is?"

"We're going on a break, for a few weeks."

"A break?!"

* * *

Yes, a break. Hmm, I thought it'd be fun to write a little skit for it so this isn't completely an author's note.

But yeah, Cosmic Warriors will be going on a little break for a while, I'm unsure for how long, but don't expect a new chapter until at least September. School is starting in a few weeks and I'm easing back into that mode, and trying to enjoy my last weeks while not wanting to worry about finding time to write and upload.

Also, the last few weeks I've been writing the chapters during the week they're to be posted, which is what ruined my first story, and I don't want CW to share the same fate. While I'll be using these few weeks to get back into the routine for school, I'm also taking time to re-inspire myself and come back with better chapters.

Thanks everyone for supporting my story thus far, see ya!


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